Jacky Meets Pierce!
Jacky wandered around the Forest of Clover, only a little surprised to find herself here. Thanks to years of reading the manga about Wonderland, she'd quickly realized that a move had occurred when she spotted a giant mushroom maybe twenty feet from the gates of Heart Castle. Wandering in the direction of the Amusement Park to test her theory, she'd been proven correct when she arrived at the edge of the forest.
Yup. A move had shifted her into the Country of Clover, away from the Amusement Park and Clock Tower, and now it'd be several dozen time-changes until April Season rolled around and she could see them again when Joker showed up to try to trap her in their prison. But she already knew that only guilty people entered the prison. Jacky had never felt true guilt in her life. So she was pretty safe from their tricks. But, choosing not to dwell on that, she decided it might be fun to hunt for Pierce Villiers, the Dormouse, and treat him to some fresh-baked four-cheese pizza!
And she knew exactly how to go about finding the sleepy mouse, too! Pierce, like all animal Role-Holders, had a great sense of smell. So, Jacky had brought along several blocks of cheddar, and a wheel of mozzarella. Placing them in a small clearing, she hid in tall tree, easily blending in with her surroundings, as she was wearing a camouflage tank-top and cargo pants, and she had leaves in her hair.
Soon enough, she spotted movement from a bush not far away, as a ginger-haired mouse-boy with a green jacket emerged from the foliage, gazing at the cheese curiously. He approached cautiously, his ears twitching to make sure the coast was clear. One ear swiveled towards her, and the mouse looked surprised and confused. "Thump, thump? What?" He looked up, and Jacky giggled, slipping down from her perch. She landed in a crouch, surprising Pierce enough to make him yelp. "W-Who are you? Chu~" he asked, staring at her wide-eyed.
"Name's Jacky Anderson," the Outsider said cheerfully as she stood up, dusting herself off. "Are you Pierce Villiers?"
"Y-Yes, chu~" he squeaked nervously. "How do you know my name?"
"I know all about Wonderland," Jacky said. "So of course I know your name! Oh, the cheese is all for you, by the way."
"Y-You brought the cheese... for me, chu~?" he squeaked, eyes wide and hopeful.
"Yup! I wasn't sure how to find, you, so I went with the tactic a lot of people use to find me: bait!" Jacky said. "If I smell a certain food, I'll come running from anywhere!"
"THANK YOU, CHU!" he squealed, hugging her tight and giving her a kiss on the cheek, before attacking the cheese ravenously.
"Heehee! You're sweet, Pierce," Jacky said, coming to sit with him and have some of the cheese she'd set aside for herself. "But keep in mind, I'm dating Peter, and I don't want him to end up shooting you if he thinks you're getting too friendly with me."
"Hm? Why, chu?" he asked, his mouth packed with cheese.
"Because you're too cute to die so young, and I think we'd be great friends!" Jacky explained. "Also, it's not a good idea to talk with your mouth full. It's not only considered rude, you could end up choking on it, and I don't know how to dislodge food from someone's throat in time to save them from choking to death without slitting their windpipe to get to it, but that also results in them dying."
Pierce swallowed the cheese before speaking. "You actually care if I live or die, chu?" he asked, giving me the puppy-eyes. And goddammit! He's one of the few who can actually pull it off!
"Of course I do! What do you take me for? A Role-Holder?"
"No, chu! Your much nicer than the Role-Holders!" Pierce exclaimed, hugging her. "You're the first person to care about me since Alice." But the moment he realized he mentioned her name, he broke down in a crying fit. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I MISS ALICE!"
"Aw, please don't cry!" Jacky pleaded, gently petting his head and ears. "If you start crying, then I'll start crying - and I never even got to meet Alice!"
"You... You're not mad at me for crying, chu?" Pierce asked, raising his head to look up at her with watery eyes.
"Nope. It's perfectly alright to cry," Jacky said, giving him a comforting hug. "Everybody needs to cry now and again. You just gotta know the right time and place, and who's okay with you crying in front of them."
"So, you cry sometimes, too, chu?" Pierce asked.
"Yup. When it comes to crying, it doesn't matter how old or young you are, or what gender you are." Jacky explained. "Because it's not healthy to keep all the sadness bottled up forever. If you keep it bottled up, you could end up bursting into tears out of no where. And trust me, I know from experience. I lost someone important to me, but because I didn't allow myself to grieve, I ended up bursting into tears a year later and missed school. you get what I'm saying?"
"Don't be afraid to cry, chu?" Pierce asked, hoping he was right.
"Yup! You know what, Pierce?"
"What, chu?" Pierce asked curiously, seeing the happy glint in her eyes.
"I think we're gonna get along juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine~!"
"You mean you like me?" Pierce brightened up, his eyes filled with hope. "You don't hate me?"
"Hell, no!" Jacky giggled. "You're cute, sweet, deceptively dangerous when angered, and you love cheese like me! What's there to hate?"
"W-Well, I am the clean-up mouse for the Hatter family," the mouse murmured nervously.
"So? I'm on good terms with the Hatter Role-Holders and their Faceless underlings, even if I'm not a part of the family," Jacky said. "And blood and guts don't scare me at all. After all, if they did, I'd be traumatized from butchering the family of the bitch who killed my cousin. And I'm perfectly fine! A little crazy, sure, but isn't everyone here crazy in some way or another?"
"Yes, chu," Pierce said. He was right, at least. Even to him, everyone here was crazy. And mean. Scary, too. Even Jacky seemed a little weird to him. But at least she was nice to him. Honestly, all Pierce wanted was a friend. Someone who didn't judge him because of his species or role.
Maybe Jacky could be that someone?