A/N: Here's the first part of Dating Mudeenu, I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own any thing associated with Chaotic; including its characters, the TV show, or the card game. I only own my main character and this plot.
Monday morning found Alice bright and early in her Art Studio; after Iflar left she wanted to start putting away some of her painting supply's because the north wall was extremely cluttered.
Alice just begun putting paints into the plastic tubs when Tiger and Midnight decided to "help". "Guys you're not making things any easier!" Alice exclaimed, laughing out loud as the two cats kept knocking over paints and cups holding the paint brushes, chasing after the supply's as they rolled across the wooden floor.
Thankfully Snow was a bit more helpful, she managed to grab some of the paintbrushes Tiger and Midnight knocked onto the floor, carrying them in her mouth as she brought them back to Alice. "Thank you Snow," Alice said, taking the brushes out of her mouth before she petted the fluffy white cat, "you're such a good girl." Snow just purred from Alice strokes while Tiger and Midnight seemed to pout because their fun was brought to a halt.
As Alice put a plastic tub into one of the wooden cabinets after she gathered up the escaped paints, her doorbell rang down stairs. "I wonder who that could be." Alice said out loud but she had a pretty good idea. All three cats followed Alice as she hustled downstairs, going straight for the door when she made it to the bottom.
When Alice opened it up she wasn't at all surprised to find Mudeenu standing on the pouch with a bright smile on his face. "Good day milady," Mudeenu said as he gave Alice a deep bow, "you honor me with your beauty once again."
Alice's cheeks couldn't help but flare a rosy pink as she covered her face with her right hand, trying to disguise her surprise but was failing miserably, "Oh M-Mudeenu! Y-You don't have to be so f-formal!" Alice couldn't help but stutter, then blushing even more from embarrassment.
Mudeenu couldn't hold back a smirk from the victory of making Alice blush and stutter just now, "Forgive me Alice, I can't help myself went I'm talking to a pretty woman."
Alice just gave Mudeenu a dazzling smile until she realized something, "Oh gosh, where are my manners! Please come in Mudeenu!" Alice exclaimed as she motioned the Mipedian Captain of the Guard inside.
Mudeenu chuckled lightly from Alice's antics as he walked inside the Apartment, ducking just a little bit so his horns wouldn't hit the doorframe. Alice's three cats wanted to say hello and welcomed the Prince with a chorus of meows as he stepped into the room. .
"And who are these sweet guy's?" Mudeenu asked with a slight laugh as he picked up the nearest cat which happened to be Tiger, stoking him gently as he held the orange tabby in his arms.
"My three kitty's; Snow, Midnight and that's Tiger your holding." Alice said as she pointed to each cat when she said their name.
"Well hello Snow, Midnight and Tiger!" Mudeenu exclaimed as he gave each cat a gentle scratch behind the ears; all three loved the treatment they received and you could tell by the loud purring that could be heard throughout the entire room.
"I think they approve of you!" Alice said, giggling as she watched the cats rubbed against the Prince's legs.
"I'm glad, I was worried they wouldn't like me!" Mudeenu said as he stood up after putting Tiger back on the ground.
"Let me change clothes and then I'll make us some refreshments." Alice said as she started walking towards the hallway; Mudeenu just nodded and smiled at her as he found a seat on the couch in the living room.
Alice walked into her bedroom with Snow right beside her, Tiger and Midnight decided to go back upstairs and take a quick cat nap; all that playing can really tire you out! Snow jumped onto the bed and watched Alice as she pulled out a dark purple tank top and jean shorts, throwing them onto the bed as she walked over to her dresser next and grabbed a pair of dark purple fuzzy socks that looked like ballet slippers.
"What do you think of this outfit Snow?" Alice asked her cat; Snow just meowed in approval as her big blue eyes seemed to shine with happiness.
Alice just giggled at the fluffy white cat as she gave her a loving pat causing Snow to purr loudly again. After she changed Alice folded her PJ's and placed them on the bed to wear again later, then she walked across the hall into the bathroom; Snow headed back upstairs to take a cat nap as well. Alice got a little hot while she was upstairs working so after combing her semi-damp hair, she pulled it back into a tight braid that went down her back. Alice then spritzed on some orchid scented perfume so she would smell a little better before she walked back out into the living room to find Mudeenu still sitting on the couch.
"Is sweet tea ok?" Alice asked getting the Mipedian Captain's attention, "I already have some made."
Mudeenu just smiled warmly before he answered, "That's the only other thing I drink besides water and wine!"
Alice couldn't help but laugh when he said that, "What's so funny?" Mudeenu asked curious.
"You!" Alice exclaimed still giggling a little bit, "I didn't know the great Caption of the Royal Guard for the Mipedian's had a sense of humor, you seemed so serious on the show!"
Mudeenu pretended to be hurt as he gasped and put a hand on his chest, "What's wrong with having a sense of humor!"
"Nothing! In fact it's great that you do, it means that you're not all "high and mighty" all the time." Alice said giving Mudeenu a wink as she turned towards the kitchen.
Now it was Mudeenu's turn for his cheeks to turn a dark pink color; no one has ever said that to him, face-to-face at least! He also couldn't help but watch Alice like he was hypnotized as she opened up a cabinet along with the refrigerator, gathering up two glasses and the pitcher of sweet tea.
"Do you need me to warm up your tea a little? It's pretty cold." Alice asked, she was concerned Mudeenu wouldn't be able to drink anything extremely cold because he was a lizard.
"Oh no you don't have to," Mudeenu said, snapping back to reality as he smiled at Alice, "I can drink cold things but I just have to do it slowly."
"That's good I was worried about that." Alice said as she poured the sweet tea into both glasses, then putting the pitcher back into the refrigerator before walking back into the living room and sitting beside Mudeenu on the couch.
"Tell me Alice," Mudeenu said as Alice handed him his glass, "I know you're quite the artist but what kind of art do you enjoy?"
"Well I do just about everything but I like scrapbooking, jewelry making, writing, and painting the best." Alice explained.
Mudeenu seemed to tense up just slightly when Alice said "painting" but she didn't noticed; Mudeenu just smiled, brushing off the feeling as he said "That's interesting, I'm really impressed."
"Now you tell me something;" Alice said with a sly smile on her face, "besides being charming and funny, what other personalities do you possess?"
"Let me think," Mudeenu said as he rubbed his chin looking up at the ceiling, "there's not really any others you've pretty much seen all the sides of me besides the serious and uptight personality."
"Well I'm just glad that you can be funny and sweet, I've always liked that in a person." Alice responding as she gave the Mipedian Captain a sweet smile that made his heart stop for just a moment.
Mudeenu looked like he was in another universe as he stared into Alice baby blue eyes while he blushed just as dark as he did earlier, "Mudeenu, are you alright?" Alice asked, smiling warmly as she spoke in a soft voice so she wouldn't startle him.
Mudeenu jumped a little when he realized what he was doing, blushing even harder as he coughed some to hid his embarrassment, but it didn't work, "(Cough) Yes Alice I'm okay, (Cough, Cough) I just remembered I haven't given you your courting gift yet."
Mudeenu then reached behind him under his cape, Alice was surprised when the Mipedian Captain pulled out a large wooden box that looked like it could hold a very large piece of jewelry. "What's this?" Alice asked as she took the box from Mudeenu.
"You'll have to open it and find out." Mudeenu said, using a mysterious voice as a smirk formed on his face.
Alice opened the wooden box and gasped the second she saw what was inside; instead of a piece of jewelry like a necklace and earrings, it was an extremely large flower! But it wasn't a real flower but a hair clip shaped like a big Avonlea Lily flower; the petals were about 5 inches tall and entirely made of tiny purple crystals that sparkled in the sunlight, the crystals started out light purple in the center but then became a dark purple at the petals tips. The stigma, anthers and filaments in the Lily's center were made of clear glass that were tinted purple to go with the color scheme. Alice could tell someone worked very hard on the hair clip and looked so delicate she thought the Lily would shatter of a feather fell on it!
"Mudeenu this is beautiful!" Alice exclaimed as she continued to examine her new gift, "But you didn't have to give me something this extravagant!"
"I wanted to though," Mudeenu explained, looking pleased Alice liked his gift so much, "I had it made especially for you."
Alice picked up the hair clip carefully to look at it more closely, "Well the Lily's absolutely gorgeous, I've never seen anything like it before."
"I'm glad you're happy with it." Mudeenu said smiling as he nodded his head.
"Let me go put this away and then I'll show you the upstairs." Alice said as she put the flower hair clip back into to the wooden box, carrying it with her as she walked into her bedroom again.
Alice placed the box on top of her dresser right by the scarf she received from Iflar and the gold cuff bracelet Chaor gave her. After Alice exited the room Mudeenu met her at the hallways entrance and she led the way upstairs, Mudeenu was a bit carful so his horns didn't scratched the sidewalls.
When the pair made it to the top Mudeenu looked around the room with wide eyes, he had been in his cousin's Art Studio of course but Alice's was the second one he'd ever seen. He looked around the room like he was studying every aspect and detail of everything that was in there, but Mudeenu froze the second his eyes landed on the angel painting that was still sitting on the easel.
"Did Iflar paint that?" Mudeenu asked, but the tone of his voice made it seem like he already knew the answer and it sounded stiff.
Alice could feel the tension radiating off Mudeenu's body as he continued to stare at the painting with a hateful glare, "Yes he did," Alice said in an even voice, "Iflar made it while he was here and gave it to me as a gift."
Mudeenu made a low growl in the back of his throat as his fist's clenched slightly, "I'm getting tired of this," he started, though it seemed he was talking to himself and not Alice, "I've lived in my cousin's shadow my entire life and it feels like I'll always be second place to the Crown Prince no matter how loyal I am or how hard I train; even now I'll always be insignificant to him, sometimes I even wish I don't have a cousin to be compared to!" shouting that last part just a bit.
It felt like someone had struck Alice in the heart, she put her hand over her chest and even felt like she was going to cry. Mudeenu turned around when he heard a sniffle and saw Alice with her back turned to him as she stood on the right side of the white square table in the middle of the room, her body was shaking like a leaf.
"Alice?" Mudeenu asked concerned as he took a couple steps towards her.
"It's alright Mudeenu I'm okay," Alice started but her voice told a different story, it was sad and empty, "It's just hard to hear other people say they don't like someone in their family; because they don't know how lucky they are to have a family."
Mudeenu's eyes widen when he realized what he had just said, he walked over to Alice and put both of his hands on her shaking shoulders, "I'm so sorry Alice," Mudeenu said with nothing but remorse in his voice, "I was completely selfish just now, please forgive me."
Alice brushed the last few tears off her cheeks and turned around to look Mudeenu straight in the eyes, but her face had no trace of any anger as she smiled warmly at him, "It's okay Mudeenu, I shouldn't even let this bother me so much;" Alice let her smile slip as she continued, looked down at the ground, "it's just hard not to think about my parent's and how my life would have been different if I'd grown up with a family who loved me."
Mudeenu stared at Alice for a minute until he remembered something, "When I was younger my uncle, King Theb-Saar, told me something I never forgot. I too grew up without my parents and thought about the same thing you have; he said, 'Never dwell on the past or what could have been, but live for the now; be thankful for what you have and what you will receive.' He told me that and now you must do the same thing, because I want you to be happy Alice." Mudeenu said, his eyes never leaving Alice's baby blue ones.
Alice's face morphed into a wide smile before she threw her arms around the surprised Mudeenu's neck, "Thank you Mudeenu," Alice whispered into his ear, "you've made me feel so much better."
Mudeenu got over his shock quickly as he wrapped his arms around Alice's small body, adoring how well she fitted in them. The couple stayed that way for several minutes until Alice let go of the Mipedian Captain's neck and he reluctantly did the same thing; Mudeenu's face had a little pink across his face but it disappeared when he looked over at Alice's pile of paint supplies and saw she was in the process of putting it away.
"Do you need help with that?" Mudeenu asked with a slight smirk, pointing at the supplies.
"That would be great thanks!" Alice said, laughing a bit.
Mudeenu helped by putting all the painting supplies into the tubs while Alice put the plastic containers into the cabinets, between the two of them the cleanup took only 10 minutes. After they were done the couple went back down stairs, spending the rest of the day talking and into the next.
A/N: There you have it! But now I have to tell you all something very important; starting Aug. 17th updates for this story will be few and far between, if at all. The reason I'll be starting my sophomore year of college and if you've been though it you know what I'm talking about, if not let's just say I'm going to be drowning in homework from Aug. 17 through the first week of December and it's going to be my Top Priority. If I ever do update it will most likely be on the weekend, but I promise you my dear readers I will get chapter's out as soon as I possibly can but just expect delays; Thank you for understanding.