Hi, guys! Welcome back to the factory! We are almost done with this mini story. Only two more chapters or so and we are done! Wahoo!
Info on this fic:
Title: The many ways to win someone's heart
Rating: K
Pairing: Decus/Alice
Genre: Romance and humor
I hope you enjoy it!
THE MANY WAYS TO WIN SOMEONE'S HEART
3
FROWN AND BEAR IT
Step 153: Spice it up with a bit of angst.
Women enjoy the company of men that have endured a fair share of hardships in their lives. In the exact words of the great Zelos Wilder, "Girls go crazy for a dark, brooding guy with an emotional scar". So make sure you frown more often to add up to your charms.
…
Decus was getting desperate. He turned the page.
So far none of the steps in this book had worked. If anything, it seemed they were driving Alice further away rather than closer. But hope dies last, and he was set on trying. There just had to be a trick inside this book that would work on Alice- There just had to! It wouldn't be a bestseller if it didn't have good advice. And it hadn't been the cheapest book either, so . . .
He turned the page again.
Step 92: A good sense of humor will sweep her off her feet.
Nope. Bad idea. Alice wasn't one for jokes and if he ever said something funny and she thought he was mocking her . . . better not take the risk. He had even less chances of winning her heart if he died.
He turned the page.
Step 101: Avoid the friend zone. Establish your intentions as clearly as possible.
He had done that already- more times than he could remember. He was pretty sure Alice knew of his intentions. And that hadn't worked well either.
He turned the page.
Step 153: Spice it up with a bit of angst.
His mouth curved into a smirk. That sounded promising!
He closed the book (Not before marking the page!) and quickly exited his room on the house of salvation to go find Alice.
…
In the end, Alice found him. And that was a good thing, actually- because she found him just how he wanted it to happen. He was leaning his body against the house of salvation's front door. With his hands on his pockets and his eyes fixed on the dirt at his feet. He was frowning so hard, his forehead muscles were already feeling tense. Was it possible for his face to freeze like that? He wondered. He certainly hoped not- it would mar his good looks.
"What are you doing standing there, Decus?" Alice asked sounding very annoyed. Decus didn't say anything. He just shrugged.
"Resting, are you? Are you tired?" Alice asked in a faux-sweet voice "Poor, poor, Dumbo Decus. He doesn't want to go to Iselia's human ranch. Boo-hoo!" She moved her hips from side to side while making fun of Decus.
"I'm not tired" Decus mumbled keeping his character. He still didn't look up from the ground to stare at Alice. He even chewed his lower lip to add a little extra to his acting "I don't want to fall sleep. Not anymore. Never again" He sighed dramatically and straightened, moving his body off the door "I cannot stand the nightmares any longer. My torturous dreams plague my mind. I'd rather be awake always" He looked up and stared directly at Alice's golden eyes.
She looked at him with a puzzled expression and raised an eyebrow.
"What the-?"
"I guess some wounds aren't meant to heal at all, my love" Decus said walking closer to Alice- his hands balled into fists "I sometimes wonder if they'll ever go away. But I've grown accustomed to the pain"
Alice stared at him. It was actually making Decus a bit nervous.
"What is wrong with you?" Alice asked exasperated, eyeing him up and down. Her amber eyes were aflame "Why have you been acting so weird lately?"
"Weird you say, my beloved? Maybe I'm just not capable of acting normal anymore. . ."
"Ugh" Alice snorted "Whatever. I'm leaving. You can stay and sulk all you want. I've got more important things to do" with that she turned around and started walking in the opposite direction.
"Ah! N-no- - My Alice, wait for me!" Decus ran after her, taking the blue leather book out of his bag and scanning through it quickly.
"Uh, um, hunny" He started reading out loud "today your smile looks as radiant as a thousand diamonds. Your eyes are beautiful and full of life. Your voice is as sweet as any angel's"
"What now?" Alice rolled her eyes and turned to stare at him sounding thoroughly annoyed "Ha! I knew you were hiding something" She said staring at the book Decus was holding "So this was it. You were reading this stupid book and your poor little brain was overloaded. Poor Dumbo-Decus" She forcefully took (more like ripped!) the book from Decus's hands.
"No, Alice, wait-"
"What is it about, anyway?" Alice said studying the cover.
"It's just-"
"The many ways to win someone's heart?"
Decus gulped. 'Damn it. This is it'
"The many ways to win someone's heart?" She said again, this time staring furiously at Decus. Her eyes turned darker.
"M-My Alice-"
Crack!
Alice's toy rapier hit him hard in the left temple.
"We need to get to Iselia's human ranch, we need to find Colette, we need to report back to Richter . . ." Her eyes narrowed "And you're reading a book about dating?"
Crack!
"My love, I-" Decus said, rubbing his bruised temple.
Crack!
"I am not your love!" Alice spat "It will never happen, Decus. Get that through your head already!" She threw the book to the ground and kicked it away "And stop reading this useless books! Focus on something useful like collecting exspheres. Or defeating Emil"
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She smoothed down her hair and bent her toy rapier "Well, well. Look at what you've done, Dumbo-Decus" She said in a soft and childish voice "You made me lose my temper. Tsk Tsk Tsk"
"I'm sorry" Decus said almost automatically.
"You better be" Alice winked and started walking again. Decus followed.
"Now then. What have we learned today?" She turned to him with a broad, bright smile.
"Uh, um" Decus blinked.
"We learned that we should focus on our mission and on being useful, right?" Alice asked.
"Right, my Alice"
"And that we would stop focusing on . . . what?" She raised an eyebrow.
"On . . . us?" Decus asked.
"That's right! You're smarter than I thought" She clapped while giggling.
"Very well, my Alice. I've learned my lesson" Decus said "I'm going to stop focusing on us"
"Finally" Alice said.
"And I'm going to focus only on you, my lovely, beautiful Alice!" He said confidently, smiling at her.
"WHAT?"
Almost done with this one! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews! It'd be awesome!
~MonaLisa
