6. You're Drunk!

"Mmm…" the foreigner didn't bother to rise as she rolled over in her sleeping bag, cuddling closer in the silk. The soft pitter-patter of rain continued outside gloomily, but she ignored it, curling against the ground. She was so tired…

"Ah…"

Alice blinked her eyes open at this new sound, breath fanning across her forehead as she awoke. Beside her lay Joker, his face resting peacefully against hers, one arm wound around her waist. He was curled in her sleeping back, allowing her head to rest on one of his arms; their bodies pressed together in the small space.

"GYAH!" the foreigner cried out, awakening the man abruptly. Joker winced at the sudden loud noise, rubbing his visible ear.

"Are you always so loud in the morning?" White asked, mildly curious as he tried to adjust to the light.

"W-What are you doing in my sleeping bag? !" Alice demanded, attempting to scoot away from the man, but the space was too small for her to move. She tried reaching for the zipper, but when she felt nothing she realized it was on his side. Damned bastard. Figures he'd keep it out of reach.

"Hmm?" White's expression remained fairly innocent as he spoke, almost as if this was normal. "Why, you looked cold in your sleep of course. Body heat is the best transfer to make you warmer."

"Why didn't you just put a blanket on me?" the outside growled, unamused with his games.

"What's the fun in that?" he asked with a smile, tapping her nose. The foreigner blushed, but more so out of anger than embarrassment, swatting his hand away.

"Honestly! Do tents just naturally turn men into perverts? !" Alice demanded in frustration, attempting to squeeze out of the sleeping bag. Noticing her actions, White unzipped it, allowing her to crawl out and away freely.

"That's rather rude, princess. I did work in the pouring rain to set this up for you, didn't I?" Joker argued gently, climbing out of the sleeping bag as well before rolling it up. Alice opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so she turned her head and pouted.

"When will the rain stop? I need to keep looking for the key." The foreigner changed the subject, frowning at the tent flap. That's right; it would be difficult searching for the object in the pouring rain. For all she knew it could be buried in several layers of mud by now. She frowned at the thought.

"It won't." Joker replied simply. Alice snapped her head in his direction.

"What?"

"Until the game ends, it will keep raining. It won't stop." White explained. Alice groaned at such a thought, palming herself. That was the last answer she was looking for.

"But what if I dropped it outside?" the foreigner fretted, her eyebrows knitting together stressfully. "It could be anywhere now! I'll never be able to find it!"

"Please don't panic, princess." Joker said, suddenly at her side. Alice blinked, cringing away slightly- unnerved by his sudden movement. He smiled down at her like a pure gentleman, but this did not make her any less nervous. "I'm sure we will find it soon enough."

"…I guess…" she answered, though her words lacked confidence.

White placed a careful arm around her shoulder; his thumb stroking along her arm. Alice glanced at his gesture, biting her lip uncertainly. She felt frozen under him; as if her body had gone numb. "We'll look for it right now. Will that cheer you up?"

Alice smiled, but it didn't touch her eyes. "Sure."

White grinned. "Then we'll go now."

The rain was unmerciful; cold, harsh and unforgiving. Pointed black shoes and red heels sloshed through the muddy ground, splashes of brown slipping onto their legs. Alice flinched- even squeaking once when she felt a worm slide into her shoe.

"Eep!" she cried, feeling the slimy monster wiggle between her toes. She squished uncomfortably about, trying to not destroy the worm in her shoe while attempting not to step on it.

White noticed her odd dance, and with a quirked eyebrow asked, "What's wrong, princess?"

"W-Worm!" she stammered, trying to undo her shoe- unsuccessfully struggling with the clasp. Kneeling down, White helped pull her shoe off, tossing the worm back into the mud before placing the shoe back on her foot.

"There you are." the jester said with a pleasant smile, arising back to his feet. Alice blinked, pressing her lips together a little.

"Thank you." she clumsily spoke, quickly taking his outstretched hand and following him through the forest. Eyebrows pinned together, she looked around. "I can't tell left from right with the rain here."

"We're not far from the circus." the jester said, reassuring her a little as he pulled a blinding branch out of the way. "See?"

Sure enough, a large, colorful circus tent awaited them- however, it seemed much more eerie and gloomy than she remembered. There were no excited customers, nor jester children running around. The animals' noises had died down, and all that filled the air was the threatening storm above- lightning striking down close enough to cause the maiden to squeak, and thunder roaring in her ears. She felt as if she'd just stepped into a horror film.

She felt a tug at Joker's hand, and she quickly tagged along; wincing as rain poured down on her and soaked her gown before she could duck into the tent. Rather, the prison- it had immediately transformed when they stepped inside.

Alice let in a sigh of relief, attempting to weakly wring out her skirt, though the cold water that splashed against the floor reached her legs, and she jumped, not having expected the sudden contact.

"Where the f*** were you? !" The duo spun around- a smirk on the ringmaster's lips while Alice remained blank- to face Black; a glare in his single ruby eye and arms crossed firmly in front of his chest.

"We went looking for the key." Alice explained, tilting her head to the side. "We told you that before we left."

"I know what the hell you were doing, bitch!" The warden snapped, causing the girl to flinch. "I'm asking why the hell you were out all night!"

Alice's eyebrows pinned together, frowning. The look he gave them… He looked frustrated.. And.. No, it couldn't be. Not Black! She must have been seeing things. She could have sworn he looked jealous! She must be losing her mind to consider such an idea!

But if…

"Black." the foreigner said his name unsurely, tilting her head to the side. It sounded alien on her tongue. "Are you… upset?"

"You tell me!" He hissed, his lone ruby eye glaring harshly into her. She flinched. Well, no doubt he was upset.

Deciding to reword her phrase, she hesitantly asked, "But… why? Why are you mad?"

"You're supposed to be doing f*cking work around here! I had to clean up the circus, clean up the prison, and be harassed by those f*cking ingrates, and you're asking why the hell I'm mad!" He snapped, storming up to her; his tall, lean body leaning over hers. It didn't matter if he was a woman now or not; he was still fairly taller than her, with just as much intimidation. She took a shaky step backwards, not enjoying the narrow distance between them. "Why the hell do you think I'm mad? !"

She felt her mouth go dry; nervous and unsure. Should she ask him? No! Of course he would deny it- he wouldn't be jealous if he didn't like her.

Did he? Flustered and nervous, Alice twiddled her fingers, pressing her lips together in a firm line. Why did she suddenly feel so uncertain? She felt color rush to her cheeks, and she glanced around. She didn't want to look up at him; she had to find a distraction, because she knew if she looked up at his face, she was sure to make an idiot of herself.

But she wanted to know. His actions, his speech… It had certainly taken her a while, but she could feel herself putting it all together. She was an idiot not to notice it until now. But what if she was wrong? She would just make herself look like an idiot. What was a girl to do? His glare didn't help her in the slightest. He seemed profoundly irritated. Taking a deep breath, she took a risk. "Black…Is that… that you… like me?"

Her teal pools met his single one cautiously, almost frightened. He stared at her blankly, and her nerves felt even more so a wreck than before. Did she phrase it wrong? Should she have remained quiet? The awkward tension was something that sent her stomach in flips, and a splash of color to her face. White rose an eyebrow at the two, remaining silent at their side.

Finally, Black broke the silence.

"Are you drunk?"

Alice blinked, all color lost from her face. ..What?

Turning to his look alike, the warden glared, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "What the hell did you feed her?"

White smiled- a pleasantly false grin- and answered, "Absolutely nothing."

His twin didn't buy it. "C'mon. What was it? Wine? Rum? Did you give her drugs?"

"I'm not drunk!" Alice cried, glaring up at the man. "And I'm not drugged!"

"Tch. Could've fooled me." the warden muttered, sparing a glare down at the girl. The brunette gritted her teeth, hands balling into fists. How dare he! Here she was, frightened like a child without its mother, asking in all honesty a question she feared of speaking aloud- for whatever unknown reason, she wasn't sure- and he called her drunk and drugged! He was impossible!

"I would never drink, or take drugs, for your information, Black! I'm perfectly fine!" She stamped her foot rather childishly on the ground, hands on her hips. She lifted her chin to feel superior, though it only gave herself a better view of the tall figure.

"No. You're more of a f*cking idiot than usual." the warden answered bluntly. Alice glared, her body tensing up.

"I am not an idiot! You just don't know how to treat a lady with respect." she snapped.

"I didn't know there was a f*cking lady here." Black remarked.

Alice huffed, smirking. "Apparently you haven't taken a look in the mirror today."

The warden gritted his teeth, reaching for his whip. "Did you f*cking say something, bitch?"

Deciding it was time to intervene, White stepped between the two; placing one arm around Alice to hold her upright as she began to stumble into a fall, and placing another on Black's chest- rather awkwardly- to keep the two apart. "Now, now, Joker. We mustn't hurt the young miss. Don't be so hasty."

Black glared at his counterpart, straightening up. Through gritted teeth, he growled, "Tch. She wouldn't be worth my time." Alice's eyebrows pinned together in annoyance at his reply, but spoke nothing else. Turning around, the warden began to walk down the hall, calling over his shoulder, "I have work to do. Go f*cking do yours."

"Wait! You didn't answer my question." Alice blurted out, watching his retreating figure in frustration.

"It was stupid. I don't have to answer." he snapped. She opened her mouth to speak again, but he had already disappeared around the bend. Alice sighed, frowning sadly at her feet.

White noticed this and rose an eyebrow, sugar coating his voice as he asked, "Is something wrong, princess?" Alice sighed. "He's impossible."

Though outside she seemed to have given up her fight, inwardly she was determined. Ignoring her question was sure to be a sign! Perhaps he did like her…

But how could she find out?

Shaking her head, she sighed, walking in the opposite direction- heading back to her room. Why did she care? Why was she so hung up on this? It was ridiculous. So what if he liked her or not? She shouldn't be so hung up on it. It was Black! Why did it matter if he cared about her not? Knowing him, he probably didn't.

Realization hit her hard and cold, like a sudden blizzard in July- which surely was possible in Wonderland, no doubt. She felt as if she had been drowned in stupidity all this time, and was finally resurfacing. How could she be so dense? How could she ever possibly be so stupid? She was a complete idiot! An utter, entire idiot!

It all made sense now. Why she was so obsessed with him; why she cared about what he did, what he said. Why his vague answer to her question left her confused and frustrated. She was so stupid not to have noticed it before! What a complete moron! She mentally scolded herself for her own stupidity. It made so much sense now. The reason she insisted on knowing if Black liked her or not wasn't because she was nosy and irritated.

It was because she liked him.

SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG DX School really got in my way these past couple months. Luckily today is my last day of school, so expect more, quicker updates! :D Maybe I can finally finish a couple stories. X'DD I know that I might cut RMR a little short. CoC is going well, too. YAY FOR BEING ABLE TO FINISH STORIES EVENTUALLY ^^

Now, I dunno if I'm going to use this idea for the next chapter or a few chapters away, but what Alice does to find out if Black likes her or not is based after a HnKnA Roleplay I am in on Facebook. (I'm Black. ;D) Depending on how this story goes, I might have to put it off to the next one, but I'mma try to fit it in here. ^^ So expect a little humor in that chapter. XD

So, I guess that's it for now. I hope Alice's realization makes up for it. X'DD I have a feeling I'll need to reread HnKnA routes and the manga to get in the feel of it all again. It's been so long since I updated and I couldn't get into the characters right. |||OTL See you guys soon!