Fandom: Alice in Wonderland 2010
Rating: R ( M )
Warning: Explicit content, do not read when under 18.
Pairing: Alice / Stayne
Genre: General/Romance/Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor do I profit. (I've been copying this one saying 'not' instead of 'nor'. Isn't that silly of me?)

Written as a reply to : 2010_Alice_kink

Au: This story isn't updated often by me. I know; I'm more often to be found updating 'Poor Child' or 'I dreamed you' and requests in between =p Yet I won't abandon this tale, no, not at all. So keep track and keep checking once in a while. I've already a small start for the next chapter (I feel like this one is a bit introductory to the next in which you can expect lemony goodness!). But Because I've been without internet (vacation) and shall be gone again for several days soon I can't say when I'll be able to update. I hope before the end of the month though =p Thank you all for your support and keep reading –heart-

A Matter of Smallness

(Part 4)

As he watched how Alice made herself comfortable inside the small cage he decided to change his uniform. Although the small girl hadn't left enough to stain his jacket he still felt it would be more hygienic to switch into one of his clean set of clothes.

He could hear the small noises she made as she desperately, yet stubbornly not asking for his help, tried to move the chain, which was still attached to her collar, in such a way that it wouldn't bother her movement within her new 'home'.

A grin slipped on his face and his lips curled upwards at the sounds. 'Oh, the feel of power.'

She deserves her cage after showing such improper behaviour. Had she not learned manners? It had almost been primitive of her to do what she has done. And then there were those red cheeks of embarrassment. At least she felt remorseful for her indecent deed.

Alice turned to him again and watched how the knave dusted his shoulder with his gloved hand. Had he really found it unacceptable? He should have given her time and privacy if he hadn't wanted for her to smudge his clothes. She huffed and folded her arms in front of her chest. If only she'd be free again and her own size.

Somehow the thought of slaying the Jabberwocky seemed to become more and more appealing. Yes, she would get back to this proud knave and his dull Queen.

With a small rattle of the chain she caught his attention and pouted. Stayne, immediately feeling a pang inside his chest and a certain area of his body starting to swell, answered to her by giving her a sharp glare.

"Why did you just change clothes?" Was she mocking him? The knave looked at her, tight-lipped and clearly not amused. He didn't seriously have to answer this question of her, did he?

While his hand roamed the air in a silencing manner she had already continued to tweet at him. "When will I be my own size again?"

Stayne's eye grew wide. Imagine the damage she would have done if she had been her own size. No, that was silly. He had to shake his head to rid himself of the ridiculous thought. If she had been her own size she probably wouldn't have fit on his shoulder and he wouldn't have carried her on his person. Nothing like this would have happened.

A perverted smirk appeared on his face. Perhaps her being smaller wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Alice, taken back by the way Stayne suddenly had started to smirk maliciously at her, took a step backwards in her cage and clutched her small hands to her chest.

"I demand to see the Queen."

What on earth was the knave thinking? She cocked her head slightly to see how the tall man reached for her with his hand, unlocking and opening the cage, and grabbed her. She squeaked and started to hit his long, slender fingers with her tiny fists.

"What are you doing?"

Stayne ignored her violent movements. "You can't see the queen, lady Alice."

Alice felt annoyed by his denial to her proposition. She had seen the Queen before but had not had the chance to talk things through. Why couldn't she be allowed to do so now? Was she still seen as an enemy?

"And why's that?"

Stayne grinned at her. "She doesn't receive pets in audience."

Alice moped. Somehow he had hit a nerve. Even as a small human creature she felt pride. "I am a person."

The sharp reply made her shudder.

"You don't look like one."

Stayne had her in a corner again, figuratively speaking. Of course she looked like a person but only a very tiny one. Stayne would acknowledge that too, if not only because of a certain organ making him aware of how much she resembled a woman, but liked to tease her endlessly. It gave him the position of one with power which was what he craved for. It motivated him to support the evil Red Queen. The thought of one day being king amused him and kept him alive. He would treat Alice as the girl she is. Lower in ranks.

She looked up at him with huge, watery puppy eyes. It worked as he felt his heart melt almost instantly. Then she uttered her cruel words.

"You're mean."

Stayne grumped irritated. Why did her words have any impact on him? It hurt to hear her preposterous accusation. But it hurt. Immediately being in a foul mood, Stayne shove aside the letters which had been lying on his desk to place Alice in front of him instead.

"You should learn a thing or two about manners." He gruffly stated, but the anger was obvious in his voice. Alice decided to look away at the sound of resentment and stared at the wooden desk beneath her feet. The sight, however bravely she had intended to appear stubborn, resembled that of a repenting girl and Stayne could feel his anger ebb away. The way her luscious locks fell down her bare shoulder, the way her hips and delicious curves were accentuated by her dress and how she would have her hands behind her back in a sad way. He could not deny it.

It turned him on.

Being in even more of a foul mood than only seconds before, he stepped away from his desk and fastened the chain to a nearby pole, actually a hallstand, and paced out of the room, leaving the poor girl behind.

Alice hadn't mind how Stayne had left her in his room. The desk had given her more space to move about than her new home 'the cage' and his absence had given her the opportunity to think things through. She had still several days left until Frabjous day and thus lots of opportunities to escape and obtain the Vorpal sword. Silently she prayed for the dormouse to come and save her. Of course Tarrant could save her as well, or even the twins, but someone of her own size would be easier. They could sneak out unnoticed. It sounded like a brilliant plan within her own mind.

However, why the knave had left in such a rush had her puzzled. She had claimed for him to be 'mean', but surely a tough and dangerous man like him could cope with such insults. And when he had commented that she should 'learn manners' she had truly expected for him to be harsh on her, perhaps hitting her or denying her to be fed. But instead he had left without so much as another word. She shrugged and couldn't be bothered to give it much thought. He was a peculiar man after all.

After he had left she had done this and that. When he had returned he had not said a word but just simply had been staring at her. The day filled itself easily. Alice was fed by the tall man. 'Dinner' he had called it and it indeed had been a warm meal. In fact, he had given her part of his meal by slicing small pieces for her at the dining table. That was until Iracebeth commanded that she didn't want 'any pets' at the table and Alice had quickly been shoved onto his lap. The whole ordeal had been awkward as the knave had felt hard underneath her buttocks. Yet he had kept feeding her unbeknownst to the Queen who had said 'good riddance' and had continued a dull tale about how her husband once fell into the canal and found his own mother's head.

Night had passed just as swiftly. She had been put in her cage and without much words the knave had left for his own bed. The morning had been different. Alice had awoken very early and, whilst rubbing her eyes, she had found that the knave had been restless within his own bed. After much tossing and turning he sat up and watched her like a hawk. Alice, pretending to still be asleep, had waited for several long minutes until the knave would move again.

But then he had suddenly left again and she had frowned. 'Why, what a silly man, ' She had thought to herself. 'to leave me as abrupt as this for a second time. If he's going to make a habit out of this strange behaviour I shall find myself very upset. How can I convince him to feed me Upelkuchen when he's not around?' And thus she sat up and stared out of her cage and out of the window. The sky was still dark and the room was lit by only one candle in total.

A small ray of light caught her attention and she turned her head to notice Stayne had left the door ajar. Through the crack she could make out a vague shape of a man. She rubbed her eyes again and looked once more.

It was the knave, his hand moving rapidly up and down a piece of flesh. The slippery sounds and the crackling of his gloved hands could be heard from where he was standing. Did he really think she wouldn't be spotting him?

'Of course,' she remembers, 'he thought me to be asleep.'

She crawled to the other side of the cage and grabbed the bars. The sounds made her feel strange and a warm sensation started to form in the pit of her stomach again. She had been given that exact same feeling before, just by watching the knave eat.

Now she could hear how the tall man grunted and whimpered. 'Almost as if he's in pain.' She thought to herself and her eyes softened to show pity.

The view she had was one of a gloved hand stroking veined flesh.

But what was it that caused him so much pain that he needed to leave her side and stroke the flesh?

She would ask him later.

Now was not the time.