paixaorpg | Snowshoes would be really nice right about now. [active/open]

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Snowshoes would be really nice right about now. [active/open]

Character(s): Zelos, anyone else?
Content: Zelos tries to make his way to somewhere to stay
Setting: Not too far from Muspelheim
Time: Early evening--getting close to sunset
Warnings: Females beware.

What a place... Really, there wasn't too much more that could be said. Nothing that could quite capture the weirdness he'd just been dumped into, anyway. Trapped in a giant snowglobe filled with monsters headed by a mysterious organization that may or may not be in a giant castle. The last part he still didn't really believe, to be honest. Helpful as the guy who gave him that information was trying to be, Zelos couldn't help but think he might have had a screw or two (or three.. or four) loose up there.

At least the view was shaping up to be pretty good, and anything that wasn't "home sweet home" right now was even better. Or at least it should have. Saved him a lot of trouble in deciding what he was going to do, didn't it? And yet leaving when he did... It just didn't settle well with him for some reason.

A little too late to start developing a conscience, isn't it? a distant voice in the back of his head mocked. Zelos scowled, forcing it away as he slowly shuffled his way through the snow.

He'd tried to avoid going inside for as long as he could, earning him impatient glares from the people behind him, especially when he decided to stand just outside the gate and start going through the journals. Between replies Zelos had attempted to work his charms on some of the pretty blondes to try and calm the air a bit, but they didn't seem to be having any of it. Which was... weird. A lot of women here seemed to be having that reaction. And what was even weirder was... he kind of liked it that way.

"The cold must be getting to me," he grumbled under his breath, his frown becoming a bit more comical as he tried to scoop some of the snow out of his path. It wasn't helping.

Zelos glared back at the gate, not far from which a Zelos-shaped hole in the snow lay from when the guards finally got tired of the Chosen's loitering and just tossed him in.

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The snow was starting to annoy her as much as it had in London. Alice had enjoyed it at first, finding it rather charming (though she never would have admitted it), but nearly being snowed in and listening to the Hatter's constant rambling about the snow in relation to wine corks had run her patience right out. So she strapped on her boots and wrapped herself in the winter cloak she had picked up at one of the shops when all of this had started, and gone for a walk.

Alice found herself doing that a lot, at least ever since she had come to Paixao. The fresh air cleared her head, and even if she didn't like the blank sort of looks many of the citizens had, she had mostly managed to ignore them. It was actually quite gratifying, to not have to deal with the strain and idiocy she had experienced in London - here, at least, was a much less intrusive sort of stupidity, the mayor's proclamations aside. The Londoner's thoughts slowed a bit when she spotted a man with red hair rather comically trying to push his way through the snow and failing rather miserably. Not being one to care about strangers, and certainly not being one to potentially get involved in other's troubles (she had more than enough of her own, even now), Alice merely watched him a little. She seemed to do a lot of people-watching, these days.

After a few more minutes of struggle, Zelos began to get the sensation that he was being watched. He scanned the snowbanks with a frown that immediately lifted once he caught sight of the culprit. She wasn't too hard to spot with that dark clothing and hair amidst all the white, and when he squinted, he was pretty sure he was able to recognize her. So his brunette beauty had come to see him after all!

"And here you said it was unlikely we'd find each other here," he called out, flashing her a grin that may have been lost due to the distance, but hopefully carried well enough in his voice. It was just too bad his charms weren't as likely to work with him half-buried in snow as he was.

Amused, Alice quirked an eyebrow at Zelos. "I see you're having some slight trouble with the weather," she quipped, lips curving in a bit of a smirk as she stepped over to him. She didn't bother to offer him a hand up - it seemed as though he was perfectly capable of getting up himself. She shrugged off his grin and remark, not particularly caring.

"Unlikely, but not impossible," she replied. Just as this place is unlikely, but not impossible. It could have been worse than being buried in snow - and frankly, Alice much preferred the snow to something else (like fire) by miles.

A hint of annoyance slipped into Zelos's expression at her observance, but it was hidden as instantly as it came, as though nothing had ever been said at all.

"And like I said, the more places there are to meet, the more of a chance we have of meeting, my brunette beauty." He flashed her another grin. "You wouldn't mind pulling a guy out, would you?" Zelos held out a hand and looked up at her expectantly.

At last, Alice wordlessly offered Zelos her hand. Being well used to people being annoyed or contemptuous of her, she caught the look Zelos gave her. It was only natural, she assumed, to expect others to help one when one had fallen. However, after the treatment she received, she knew it wasn't in human nature to help others, not without a price. Still, she pushed those thoughts from her mind for now - it was best not bother with bitterness at the moment; she was in no mood.

Zelos willingly took the offered hand and pulled himself up. There was still some considerable sinking, but luckily starting on top of hte snow helped him to only sink down to his knees, rather than being waist-deep like before. This was manageable. "Let's see... Alice, wasn't it? You know, I had a feeling you'd be a lot prettier in person, and it looks like I was right." Aside from... Well, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was this weird look in her eyes that just didn't sit right with him. Maybe she'd just gone through a lot? ...A hell of a lot.

Not like it was his place to pry, though. Odds were she wouldn't talk about it.

Edited 2011-11-26 05:12 (UTC)

Alice merely watched Zelos, unaffected by his compliments. At least he wasn't being rude about it, but her time in London's slums, surrounded by cat-calls and a wealth of unsavory characters, made her less than receptive to such things. Still, he wasn't forward or cruel about his remarks and so it didn't bother her. "Usually, one attempts to avoid being buried in the snow," she quipped, an amused gleam in her eye, "but perhaps you're new to this sort of thing." It wasn't every day the city was half-buried in snow, from what she'd seen.

You know, Zelos was starting to think he was the only one putting any effort into this relationship. Well... you can't win them all (the oddness of no one here seeming to be that into him aside). "Usually I try to avoid snow altogether," he said, irritation once again leaking into his voice, though not at her. "Snow and I don't exactly have the best history with one another."

Zelos turned his gaze toward the painted, cloudy ceiling above. "Not that I've had too many experiences with freak indoor snowstorms like these."

"I must confess I usually enjoy the snow," said Alice lightly, withdrawing her hand from Zelos' now that he was up, "but this is getting ridiculous. It rather reminds me of a snow globe." She'd seen one once, on one of her rare trips out of the slums. It had come from France, and she'd overheard something about their creator wanting to mass-produce them. She hadn't really paid much attention at the time. Like Zelos, the Londoner turned her face to the false sky, wondering a little at it.

"I wonder if perhaps there's some sort of mechanism controlling it," she said, more to herself than anything.

Huh, it really was kind of like a snowglobe, wasn't it? The shape was right, there was obviously snow everywhere... "Just hope no one decides to try and shake it up," Zelos mumbled under his breath.

In an instant, any sign of the Chosen's irritation melted away from his face, replaced by his typical carefree, flirtatious smile. "Pretty and smart. I bet that's exactly what it is. Is there anything you can't do?"

"I think someone already has," commented Alice, who'd heard whispers of an Organization, not to mention the fact that she'd seen the mess of City Hall. Frankly, those thorns reminded her a little too much of Queensland, and once again she wondered if she hadn't simply completely lost her mind after all and was merely hallucinating all of this. It seemed likely, at least.

At the compliment, she merely shrugged. "Get out of here, for starters. The guards won't allow it." Not that she really wanted to leave the city without having time to get used to it, but having the option would be nice.

Man, the girls here were hard to impress. Not even a blink at that? Zelos may not have minded having to work a little more, but this was just starting to get disappointing. He didn't think he was out of practice... Well, he didn't see any reason to stop trying yet.

"Hey, just because they won't allow it doesn't mean you can't. There's probably some other way out of here somewhere." The sewers of Meltokio came to mind. Maybe there would be something similar around here. Though... hopefully not quite so... dirty. Not that Zelos was really in the mood to leave. If there wasn't any snow, this place wouldn't be half bad.

Anywhere wouldn't be half bad.

"Surely," agreed Alice with a nod. "One simply has to be able to get past the guards." She raised a critical eyebrow in their direction, pondering. "However, that won't be easy, and I've no desire to see myself under arrest. At least, not yet." Not that she'd never been in jail before, but she'd generally found it to be unpleasant, even if the chief of police was kind to her. At least someone in London was understanding, which made a nice change from the usual. However, Alice doubted that whomever led the guards would be quite so accepting on such matters.

Once again, Alice turned her gaze to the artificial sky, humming a bit in thought. "Perhaps a way to sneak past them? Though I can't say I desire to do so at the moment." Honestly, she was a little surprised at herself for suggesting it, given her unpleasant experiences with authority. But authority, it seemed, must either be obeyed or overthrown, and she wasn't terribly fond of those in charge here thus far.

"Hey now, let's not get too hasty about this," Zelos quickly said holding up his hands. "I only just got here. And I don't know about you, but I don't really want to go through all that snow again." Even if it was only a few yards away.

"Besides there are still so many lovely hunnies for me to meet." If what he had seen on that journal was even just a tiny percentage of the ladies he could possibly meet here, he couldn't just leave now.

At that, Alice didn't even resist rolling her eyes. "It's hardly polite to mention such matters in a lady's company, especially when you're remaining in said company." She glanced around herself, rubbing her arms at the cold. "If we're going to continue speaking, might I suggest we find somewhere else? Inside, perhaps?" It would be better to simply go somewhere warm, and banter there, if one could call it that.

It might have been strange, but ever since arriving here, Alice had found herself more at ease. She was sure it was the change of pace, not to mention the attitudes of those around her; here, she was just another "outsider", and that suited her just fine.

If Zelos took any notice of Alice's chiding, he didn't show it. Instead he shrugged and peered around, looking for anyplace that might be warm and dry. There were plenty of places to pick, sure. Plenty of nice places, even. But most of them he could see looked pretty permanent, and while Zelos wouldn't mind getting a place of his own in this town, he was pretty sure Alice here wasn't looking for that.

It was almost too bad, really.

"Lead the way, my brunette beauty. You know this place better than I do." A sudden thought came to him. "What about a nice, cozy restaurant, hm? Unless you'd rather warm up here."

For all that Zelos annoyed Alice, he wasn't nearly as bad as some of those she often met in London. "I do have a name, you know. I won't be offended, should you choose to use it," she replied with a (somewhat amused) shake of her head. But getting food did sound good, and so the young woman turned to lead the way towards Cafe Ersesat. She'd only been there once, but from what she remembered, it had been rather good. It wasn't very far, either; in fact, she could see it, not terribly far from where they'd been talking.

"This way," she simply told him, not bothering to elaborate. She was sure Zelos would be able to tell where they were going, anyway.

Zelos didn't miss a beat. "Alice it is!" he said cheerfully, and followed behind.

The cafe they ended up in was pretty nice, he had to admit. Not really an upscale kind of place, but it was enough that he didn't feel like he was eating in some kind of a shack or something. The fact that it was actually pretty warm inside helped. "So where shall we sit, my darling Alice?"

She didn't think she was going to get away from some form of pet name, did she?

"Hardly 'darling'," replied Alice, wrinkling her nose. "You don't even know me." If he must call her something as a nickname, Still, despite his flirting, Zelos didn't seem the bad sort. "Anywhere is fine." She didn't mind where they sat, really; the mere fact that it was warm inside was good enough for her. She waited for Zelos to lead the way, as she honestly didn't care where they sat, and allowed the hostess to take her cloak, damp with the heavy snowfall that had been flurrying all over the city.

Despite Zelos' idle flirting, she didn't mind him very much. Perhaps it was because talk was all he seemed to be doing; he didn't strike her as the type to do anything truly impolite, unlike many back in London.

Zelos just grinned at her in response and went to sit near the middle of the cafe, away from the windows. Normally he would have been more insistent that she pick where she wanted to go, but frankly his time face down in the snow, half buried in the snow, and just generally around the snow was more than enough for him and he was tired of seeing it.

"I could certainly use something warm to drink after being out there in that snowglobe. Maybe even something we could share?"

Alice blinked at Zelos, not quite comprehending what he was saying. Sharing a drink was unheard of in her time; nevermind that she was out on her own with a strange man. Alice shook her head confusedly at her companion. "Why would I want to share a drink?" she asked. "I've more than enough currency for both of us to get whatever we want."

At that moment, the waiter came to take their drink order. Alice ordered hot cocoa for herself - she preferred to only take tea with friends, and she didn't know Zelos well enough for that. She then looked over at Zelos, waiting for his input.

Zelos sighed. That one went right over her head, didn't it? Trying to bring his sweet little Colette around was easier than this. Though Alice did seem a bit more aware of his advances. And on top of that there wasn't a waitress to be serving them. "A mocha, I guess," he said, giving only a passing glance at the man.

Now, that was interesting. What was a mocha? The menu didn't give a description of it. Oh, well, she could always learn later. But this was a bit awkward; didn't one usually have a conversation when they were out with someone? Alice wasn't usually the social type, but Zelos didn't annoy her terribly - in fact, he rather amused her. "Where are you from?" she asked, smoothing a napkin over her lap. He didn't dress like anyone else she had ever seen, and the jewel, which clung to him without anything appearing to hold it in place, seemed interesting.

While Zelos still looked a little put out, he was careful to hide his feelings away. There was still a chance. No need to get all bent out of shape that quickly, right? "A place called Tethe'alla... which you've probably never heard of." If what that Doctor guy had said was any indication, he probably wasn't anywhere even close to home. "Couldn't tell you how different it is from here." It was kind of hard to see what much of anything looked like out there aside from the occasional sparkle from underneath the snow. He glanced at some of the people in the cafe. "It looks pretty similar. The nobles dress alike."

Alice couldn't help but wonder why Zelos seemed so put out. It wasn't as though she knew what he'd been on about. Oh, well. It couldn't have been very important, considering that he'd been flirting shamelessly with her. Truth be told, she didn't quite know how to handle that; she was hardly used to receiving such attention. "You're right," she told him. "I've never heard of it at all." She sighed a bit, nor really minding, and looked at the menu. Most of the food was something she didn't even recognize. How was she to order if she didn't even know what most of it was?

Zelos folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "You're not missing too much." There was better technology and some pretty women back home, sure, but even if those were nice, he could live without them. There were enough of the latter around to make up for it anyway. "And what about yourself? Surely a place that could make someone as pretty as you can't be all that bad."

Alice shrugged, though she stared a bit at the compliment, being quite unused to them. "It's not bad if you're wealthy or seen as a member of polite society," she replied, a small amount of bitterness creeping into her voice. "Unfortunately, I'm neither. I wasn't sorry to leave it behind." Despite the snow, and the strangeness of the citizens, Alice was rather enjoying Paixao. Here, she could live as she wished, and no one cared or tried to stop her. It was a much welcome change of pace from London, where she'd been constrained in all areas of life due to her standing, to say nothing of her condition. Smoothing her napkin over her lap, Alice sighed a little. "I must confess that I quite like it here. If I never had to return to England, I'd be grateful."

Zelos half-shrugged. "That's one thing we have in common. To be honest, I never would have guessed you were from the slums. Guess that goes to show what the right kind of place can do for a person." If people weren't so tied up with themselves, anyway. He gazed up at the ceiling in thought.

"Yeah, seems like your place and my place have a lot in common."

How had Zelos guessed Alice had lived in the slums? But he definitely seemed perceptive enough, and it wasn't too difficult to tell, given what she'd said. Alice mentally shrugged it off - as long as he didn't press her about it, she didn't care. "I'll take that as a compliment," she replied as their drinks came. Alice waited for her cocoa to cool, although she ate the whipped cream from it as politely as she could manage.

Unaccustomed as she was to dining in restaurants, she waited for Zelos to order in silence, still deciding on what she wanted to eat herself.

It was pretty obvious for Zelos to tell, actually. He'd spent enough time in Meltokio to know that kind of attitude when he saw it. The want for something better in life, and the disdain for those in the best parts of society who didn't seem to know what was going on around them... Sometimes Zelos thought he had a lot more in common with the people in the slums that the high-society group he was "supposed" to cast his lot with.

"Well don't you wait on me, my darling Alice. I'm more in the mood for a hot drink than a meal," he said with a wink.

Silently aside the use of "darling", Alice simply ordered a steak and steamed vegetables - decent food was difficult to come by, in her situation. As unused as she was to being able to eat enough, much less eating in a healthy manner, she was going to take full advantage of it while she could. The cocoa helped, too - Alice was already feeling much warmer than before.

It was nice to come in out of the cold, and although Alice had already been in Paixao for a short amount of time, it had already done wonders for her health and mental state. Perhaps this place was exactly what she needed.

Wow, a steak, huh? She was really going all out. Good thing money didn't mean a lot here. Although seeing that, he wondered if he should have gotten something after all. But there were other places around here to try, so it wasn't like it was that big of a loss.

Zelos sipped at the mocha, occasionally peering to look out the window. Man, it was still coming down out there? Just how much snow was this place going to get? "How long did you say you've been here again?" he asked, trying to get his mind off the subject.

Before she went out, Alice always made sure to gather a good amount of the plants needed for payment. One never knew when one might need something, after all. She rarely went out to eat, preferring her own meager cooking skills to dealing with going out in public, but just doing it every so often couldn't hurt.

She looked out the window, watching the snow. "I've resided here for about a month," came the reply. She'd been a terrible mess when she'd arrived, hollow-cheeked, sallow-skinned and wild-eyed, but being in this city, away from the poisonous influence of her society, had been good for her. Already, she looked much healthier, and some of the madness had left her eyes. She'd barely even given into her madness, save for a couple of times she didn't really remember.

"A month, huh?" Zelos echoed, and stared up at the ceiling. "I guess that means I'm stuck in here for the long haul." But he shrugged as he said that. It wasn't that big of a deal to him.

A thought suddenly popped into his head. "Has anyone managed to get back home for here?" While he didn't mind staying, Zelos couldn't say the idea of a one-way trip appealed to him all that much. He hadn't chosen to come here, and frankly he wanted some options.

Alice shrugged. "It's been no hardship," she told him. "My life's gotten so much better since leaving the slums. I rather hope I'm able to stay here, in fact." She hadn't been sorry to say goodbye to England in the least. Even if this was a dream (a long dream, at that) or a hallucination, it was miles better than anything London had to offer.

"I know of some people who've disappeared. I'm not sure if they've gone home, or simply somewhere else, but I don't think anyone's managed it on purpose." She hadn't been in Paixao long, so she couldn't say for sure, but that's what her explanations had seemed to come up with, at the least.

Disappeared... Disappeared sounded ominous. Zelos didn't look back at Alice as he mulled it over. Yeah, that definitely sounded like a problem. Hopefully it was more of a slip through the cracks and a way out rather than a completely gone kind of thing.

He grinned as he looked back at her, one leg crossed over the other and an arm draped behind his chair. "Come on, people just can't disappear completely. They have to be going somewhere, right?" She said that they might have gone somewhere else. "Any of them just, you know, pop right back into town?"

"I don't know," came the answer, Alice still looking out at all the snow. "I've heard they all go home, although I don't know anyone personally who's disappeared." She'd heard rumors, however, and though she usually wasn't one to pay attention to gossip, her instincts had led her to keep one ear to the ground, so to speak. "And I've heard that people sometimes come back, though sometimes their memories have been altered."

Something about that set Alice ill at ease, though she didn't know exactly why. Not being able to remember things bothered here, and the price for forgetting was high.

Zelos tried to ignore the chill that ran up his spine. Yeah... that didn't sound good at all. Just where were these disappeared people ending up? But maybe he was just overthinking things. It couldn't be all that bad here, right? He'd seen plenty of good things around. ...Good enough. And this girl didn't seem to mind it that badly, even with the occasional disappearance.

"Just a small price to pay for a piece of paradise," he said, as much to convince himself as anything else.

Alice repressed her own feeling on the matter; she was hardly the type to confide in anyone, much less a complete stranger. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the distraction of her food arriving, using it as an excuse to focus on cutting her meat as she tried to push her own troubling thoughts on the matter from her mind.

"I'm not sure it's a paradise," she finally said, thoughtfully, "but it's at least better than the world I left behind."

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Snowshoes would be really nice right about now. [active/open]

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