Alice in Turtleland

[SlightPhobia]

She sort of wanted to stick her fingers straight up his nose... just to hear him prattle in a nasal tone. How fortunate that she had a higher impulse control than most children. Her lids slid downward into a slightly exasperated expression as he lectured her about being alone... without training. "It is illegal to carry exposed swords on the street without a permit...." She chided him as though to compensate for a lack of training.

As he made his way to the slummy entryway, Alice sighed. "...We can't really get in here... You have to go to the roof. There's a fire escape on the next building..." She offered, squirming lightly. The mention of a hotel sounded somewhat nice, but... She wasn't really interested in a spa day... not since she was almost positive Mr. Turtle could not come for a mud facial. "Do you want me to show you?" She asked, wiggling as though to squirm down from his grip. It shouldn't have been terribly hard to find though, said fire escape. "Upstairs is nice anyhow. You will like it up there. Mm," she agreed with herself quietly in conclusion.

[kakarot]

The turtle rolled his eyes and kept silent until she told him about the fire escape. He found himself at a loss since this little girl seemed a bit stubborn on what she wanted. She wouldn't even answer his questions. He held her tight and found the fire escape and set her down there in front of the ladder. "Can you climb or do you need to ride my shell?" he asks

[SlightPhobia]

Everything inside of her squealed to ride on his shell. I mean... riding a turtle sounded adorable... Still, she was a lady. Pursing her lips, as though she'd been denied this fun, she silently began her trek up the ladder, grunting now and again at the pangs in her knee. When they at last got to the bucket style of landings and stairs, she wound up, up, and up, until she reached the roof, gawking to the roof of her flat. Whether or not Leonardo was ready, she proceeded to the roof ledge and crouched. Yipe! Jumping across might have been normal for ninjas, but... well.

A solitary bound propelled her across the lip of the building and onto the next door building. Surely Leonardo was able to keep up with her. The top of the building bore a standard roof-cap with a door that lead down a flight of stairs to the dwelling hallway. There was only one door, rather than a hallway of doors below. The hallway was dingy, as the rest of the building, but the door was anything but! It was scrolled with wood carving and came complete with a rather ornate key-card swipe... that wasn't at all for a key card. Sliding the tip of her nail through the swipe-spot, the door unlocked itself and swung open. Greeting them was the quiet pastel spans of a little girl's dream. There were gilded mirrors and marble-top tables, Acacia-wood furniture pieces and rare vases galore. What was missing was any sort of parental presence. The shoe rack in the doorway boasted that much. Seating herself, Alice began to unbutton her spats and slid her foot out from the tiny shoe. All the shoes belonged to one shoe-size... none of which were adult. Hopping up, she gave her toes a wiggle and padded into the kitchen. "Please make yourself at home," she chirped. What did the door-plate say? The gold plate on the door had read: Miss A. Howard. Her name started with an A...
What then? Alice disappeared into the kitchen and filled a kettle with water. She wasn't super interested in the tear in her stocking... or the crusting scab on her skinned knee. "...Where did you come from, Mister turtle?" She asked casually, rummaging through the cupboards to find a suitable, fragrant tea. "...Do you like assam tea? I have some Assam Marangi I'd like to put on..." Dishes clattered and really, even from a distance, the whole house seemed too large and sterile for one little girl. She was like... a doll living in the world of a little girl. For crying out loud, Leonardo was a stranger and she'd let him into her house so easily! "Mister Turtle, are you allergic to almond or tree nuts?" So many questions.

[kakarot]

Leo was shocked the girl made such a jump but he went across very easily and followed her to her door and found everything to be very odd. "Wow everything in here is so.....not like the outside" he points out then hears her going to the kitchen. He did notice the Miss A. Howard plate and wondered if that was this little girl, or someone else that used to live in this room. He listened to her and wanted some answers.

"I want you to answer my questions. You need a shower and to bandage your wounds. You need to stop ignoring me and running about" he says starting to sound like a more strict parental figure. "I'm not allergic to that and I haven't tried that type of tea, but I'm not drinking any of it until you start explaining" he says

[SlightPhobia]

Well, Leonardo would have gotten along just fine in Alice-land were it not for one, itsy bitsy comment. Alice hadn't been very talkative up until the moment Leonardo called her out on hygiene. "KORRA!!!" She scolded rather loudly. Stomping out of the kitchen, she leered right up into Leonardo's eyes. "I'll have you know I take a bath every single night and treat my hair very specially! I am very hygienic! Clean!" Pursing her lips, she wiggled her finger at him and squealed: "How about we do a salmonella swab on you, Mister Turtle. Honestly! How rude!" she grumbled, turning on her heel. Her hair floundered out and swatted against him as she resumed vigil on her kettle.

The kettle began to whistle rather abruptly and as it did, she wrenched it from the induction burner. "...Anyway... I'll forgive you because you're mister Turtle... and you saved my life, I suppose... not that it matters," she mumbled in a cavalier tone. Life didn't matter, hmm? The kid was warped, that was certain. She behaved in a spoiled fashion now and then too-- like a princess whose negligent parents bought her affection rather than pouring a penny of emotional support to her. Two spoonfuls of the assam leaves were scooped into the kettle and allowed to steep once she'd deemed the water to be at the right temperature. A plate of almond cookies awaited them.
The girl sighed and retrieved an ornate kettle for serving and matching cream and sugar keepers. Serving out the cream and sugar, she strained the tea into the proper pot and carried the tray of sweets and tea into the dining room; thus far the turtle's questions were unanswered. Setting the table, she sat down-- on her knees. For a Victorian house, it was odd to have an asian heated table (Yay Kotatsu~), but it sort of fit the girl's eccentric personality. "Now then... Please sit down and we can talk..." Gesturing to the seat across from her, she squinted at the almond cookies as though searching for an imperfect morsel to toss out. "...My name isn't really important or genuine... so my answers depend on whether you want this truth... or that truth," she began, sliding a steaming cup of strong, black tea toward Leonardo. She added a liberal amount of cream and sugar to her tea, but took no cookies. "You asked about Goloso... it's a... vengeful spirit, I suppose," she mused. That wasn't the correct word but she was pretty sure 'harlequin' wasn' t in the standard dictionary to mean anything other than clown. "I was looking for him," she replied, as though those simple phrases answered his questions.

[kakarot]

The turtle was taken back by the outburst and at the moment could have cared less to stay. Leo wasn't one to be harsh, rude, nor uncaring, but the girl was pushing him to his limit of patience. He was concerned with her health, but somehow she seemed like nothing bothered her, and if that was the case he'd rather leave and train elsewhere.

He watched her return and set out the tea and items and stood there with his arms crossed. "No thanks. I'm not thirsty and don't need a snack right now" he states. "I almost don't even want to stick around to hear the story about everything that happened tonight" he states as he turns and looks to the door. "If you want answer my questions, whether you pick and choose which you answer or not, it'd be easier for me to leave. Besides you seem fine to me right now"

[SlightPhobia]

There wasn't a lot that bothered her, to be honest. As the turtle turned his back and headed to the door, she lifted the tea cup to her mouth and made no physical motion to stop him. Smiling a coy sort of smile, she hummed. "It sounds like you're the one that needs to talk, I think..." Considering the brew, she set her cup down and glanced up at him. "...I'm a better listener than talker... But if you feel the pull to go, that is not unnatural. It is probably safer that way," she concluded. Well... that was a cryptic sort of thing to say. Was there danger here?

"It would be bad if you got mixed up in it... worse if I had to try to kill you, I think... mm," she agreed with herself taking another sip of tea. She was either waxing like a complete nut-case right now... or a very trapped little girl in a hopeless situation... too scared and conditioned to even ask for help. Or was it that pesky pride again. Her lips pursed for a moment as though they were attempting to quiver much the way a small child's would before a fit of tears. Somehow, she smoothed her face out once more. Loneliness.... that terrified her. More than death, to be honest. His choice to leave was smartest... but she didn't /want/ him to go. "...It was nice to have tea with someone... even if you're imaginary, Mister Turtle...." Nudging her tea cup, she had concluded that Mister turtle was either a wild hallucination... or some kind of Kitsune. Let's hope that overbearing sense of duty kicked in and the turtle wouldn't leave!

[Hmm, if he does leave, we'll have to have them run into each other on the street again. X3,]

[kakarot]

Leo eventually sighed and turned around hearing the last bit. "Look kid, you're sounding very crazy and strange, so if you wouldn't mind, please stop referencing such dark ideas and things. From all that talking the last bit revealed your concern so talk to me as if I were you please. I want to help you, but I can't by the way you're acting and speaking right now" he explains as he takes a seat on the couch and rests his hands on his knees.

"I'm clearly not imaginary or I couldn't have magically saved you in the alley, nor carried you" he adds as he waits for the next crazy thing to come out of her mouth."Ask what you want listener. I know how to talk"

[SlightPhobia]

It was her turn to be perplexed. As he called out her crazy-talk, she furrowed her brows. Hallucinations didn't generally talk back in ways that made a lot of sense. It was starting to become very... very confusing, which made her head hurt just a little. At last, she was recognizing all of the pain receptors firing off in her body wildly. For crying out loud, she should have been in pain! She'd gotten clocked in the face. "...I don't..." She began, trying to behave 'normally.' This upset her even more... a turtle telling her to turn off the crazy and be normal. "...I don't know how..." With that confession, her eyes became a little bit misty. A small snivel escaped her before she lifted her hands up to her ears and covered them. "...I don't want to listen to painful things... but it hurts right now," she confessed in a whimper.

Shaking her head lightly, she tried to shut down the throbbing ache in her cheek. She damned her hand for reaching up to it... and hissed lightly as she offered it a tender rub. "...I don't know how to tell you about it... or if I should..." Lowering her palms to the top of her skirt, she clenched at the fabric roughly, quivering. "...I want help but... I don't think..." She shook her head, a solitary, frantic tear sliding down her cheek. "...I don't want there to be any more Youreiban... any more reason for the dream to continue..." She fell into quietude once more, and gazed up toward him. Her cheeks were flushed from her brief little episode. Quietly, she corrected one word: "...nightmare..."

It had been a glimpse of the little girl trapped inside the 'miniature adult,' so to speak. Perhaps it was cruel for the world to expect her to be an adult but... the whole world was full of cruel expectations. She was not alone in her plight. Wiping her expression clean, she resumed her polite facade. "...oh my... That was... awfully rude of me... I don't know where such an outburst came from... Ahaha... I apologize. You were asking me about Goloso..."

Tossing her head back, she appeared very weary... almost... old. "....Goloso is an Alrecchino... harlequin... I don't expect you to understand.... but it's akin to a Mononoke... a vengeful spirit, as I said earlier... I was chosen from an early age... to be a hunter of these things... because I can see them.... I can feel the moving... You'll have to .... forgive me if I fancy you an illusion. Usually the people around me don't see the unusual things I do so... I don't really know how to be normal..." The bitter way she mumbled the last phrase pointed to a few deeper issues. "...I look into the mirror and see a little girl every morning you know... I think... maybe someday... I'll be a little more normal... I won't be able to see or hear the things from the darkness anymore but... I can never be that little girl in the mirror." She offered Leonardo a sheepish grin and confessed: "You see, I am a reflection living in the world of a little girl..." Biting her lower lip, she repressed another quiver. Crying was not... acceptable.

[kakarot]

The turtle tried to follow along as best he could. It was difficult to take in, but he noticed her aching face and her tears as he had gotten through to her. Seeing she had some emotion and finally answered his questions, let alone the one about her being in the apartment room that was so fancy, he felt relaxed for once. "Okay well I'll help you in your duty to defeat these spirit things. I can only assume there aren't many in this city since you haven't been here long, or I haven't seen you around much. And if you don't know me and my kind, you couldn't have been too long" he reasons.

As she began to talk about everything and tear up he couldn't help but get up and walked around the apartment and found a medical kit and walked back into the room and sat down beside her and set the kit on the table that was between them. "stay still kid. You need your wounds tended to, and you should probably get something to eat. You probably won't want to work with me, but I'm doing this for your good. I'm not here to hurt you, and if you want to be a little girl, let me be your daddy" he suggests.