A.N.

Despite all the bishies in Wonderland, Vivaldi is my favourite character. I tend to ship her with a lot of people and Gowland just ended up being my preferred suitor for her. That's pretty much the best and only way I can describe how this fic came into existence.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Queen and the Duke

If there was one place Vivaldi enjoyed more than the rose garden, it was the amusement park. The bright colors, the tasty treats, the screams of the patrons; it was an entertaining territory.

However, Vivaldi found little pleasure in roller coasters or cotton candy.

It was only in the venues, surrounded by plush animals, where she felt like the young faceless girl she once was long ago. She didn't like to think that girl was completely gone, but merely masked by the strong woman she had become.

The adorable plush animals reminded her of past visits to the amusement park with her family. The fabulous parades she watched on her father's shoulders, Blood crying because he was too short to go on most of the rides, the stuffed animals she would bring home by the armful, all these memories and more were drifting in a nostalgic wave throughout the park. In addition, the amusement park was always adding new toys to satisfy her passion for cuteness, and to ensure her patronage.

"What brings you here, Vivaldi?"

Gowland pulled Vivaldi out her current thoughts. She turned to berate him for bringing her back to reality, but the words died on her tongue when she caught sight of him. Gowland looked no different from usual, but it was what he was holding that caught her attention.

There, in one arm across his chest, Gowland was carrying the most adorable thing Vivaldi had ever seen.

Gowland inwardly cringed when he caught sight of the tyrant roaming around his park: again.

True, she left him alone and never did any damage to the park or patrons, but she was an annoying woman all the same. Still, Gowland always did his best to be civil with the ladies; even if his encounters with Vivaldi were anything but civil. Their conversations always ended with them insulting each other, but right away Gowland knew something was wrong.

Vivaldi's face didn't hold its usual disappointment or annoyance when she saw him.

Instead she looked...different.

Large doe eyes replaced her usual cold stare, and there was a blush painted across her cheeks. It took a moment for Gowland to realize that Vivaldi was staring intently at him.

He quickly concluded it was disturbing.

Vivaldi did not GAZE and she did not BLUSH; especially at men. Yet here she was; looking like a love struck teenager with infatuation sparkling in her eyes.

At that moment, a light went off in Gowland's head as the dots connected one by one. Vivaldi's constant visits to the park, their trivial quarrels, and the heated gaze she was giving him. It all made sense; the overbearing Queen of Hearts had the hots for him.

"What's that in your arm?" Gowland jumped a bit from Vivaldi's sudden outburst (she was too consumed by the cuteness to control the volume of her voice) and looked down to what he was carrying in his arm.

"Oh, this? It's a new line of toys we're carrying." Vivaldi was too enamoured with the plush animal to notice Gowland regarding her with a quizzical look on his face.

"How much?"

"Uh...you...you want to buy it?"

"Well if I didn't, why would I be inquiring about the price? Honestly, only a man could be capable of asking such a stupid question."

Gowland ignored her comment and held out the plush in front of him to study it. Vivaldi's patience was wearing thin after a few moments; there was no reason he needed to take this long to think of a price. His glance kept on switching back from the plush to Vivaldi and it was positively vexing her. She was about to issue his beheading when he made his offer, "Here."

He held out the plush to her and Vivaldi accepted it graciously.

"How much do I owe you?" Gowland shifted his feet and let out a heavy sigh, "Just take it. You could have bought a hundred of those things with what you've paid in admission so far."

"I don't come here that often, you insufferable man!"

Gowland gave a small chuckle, happy to see the Queen regaining some of her spite back, "Whatever. Just... don't read into this ok?"

Vivaldi arched an eyebrow trying to decipher Gowland's last remark.

After a few seconds, she decided it wasn't important.

Her father would have been jealous of her getting a plush without at least trying to win it a dozen times. She could still see the annoyance on her mother's faceless face as she watched her husband waste all their money for one "dumb stuffed piece of trash" (her mother's words). Her father was horrible at carnival games and never improved, but he always made sure his little girl left with a stuffed animal.

"Regardless...thank you." Vivaldi allowed herself to give Gowland a small smile of gratitude. She could only do such a thing in this territory of cuteness, nostalgia and happy memories. Vivaldi turned her back to him and walked back to her castle, ecstatic for her newly found friend and completely oblivious to the rejection she just faced.

Gowland watched Vivialdi as she walked away. The least he could do was give her the plush. He didn't like Vivaldi, but that didn't mean he enjoyed shooting her down. Making women cry was just never his thing.

Vivaldi didn't seem like the type of woman who would handle rejection quietly, so to ensure the safety of his customers, he had to let her down gently.

Still, he would never forget Vivaldi's smile or that look on her face when she first saw him. He denied that she looked cute when she blushed.

She looked different, definitely not cute. Besides, she was totally into him.

He didn`t quite know how to handle having a misandrist infatuated with him, but it still felt good knowing he charmed the shrew.

Gowland ran his hand through his hair and in a unsurprised tone remarked to himself, "I still got it."