#kian would want a pretty car that went fast

[a-cat-in-toffee]

okay chat im not a super huge car guy geenrally i dont know much about them. but what type of car do we think suck rand would drive? because on one hand rand driving a shitty fucking station wagon would be fucking hilarious but also maybe nbr would only have one car? and the three of them would argue for a while but probably settle on something that wouldnt stand out too much but is still very pretty like a chevy impala (nonbiased statement) or a mercury marquis (another totally nonbiased statement) from around the 60s-70s (rand insists on a tape/CD player)

[akeshuu]

Ikerev HC

Fenrir going to the Land of Reason with MC to meet her friends

Also MC is from our time period, because a) I forgot whether she was from the 18th or 19th century and had no internet to check it and b) I’m a lazy dumbass and couldn’t stay historically accurate regarding scenery, inventions, etc. anyway.

So. EXCITED.

Alice had spent long hours talking about her friends and family back home in the Land of Reason. Fenrir knew that she loved him and her new home in Cradle, but it was also obvious how much she missed some aspects of her old life. Especially her friends.

Alice was happy most of the time, but he had caught glimpses of the shadow in her eyes whenever something reminded her of her old friends, the regret that sometimes found its way into her heart for leaving without a single goodbye.

A few months had passed and those moments had begun occurring more and more

So, of course, Fenrir decided to take matters into his own hands. He spoke with Ray and arranged for them both to be free for the next month.

When he told her that he was sending her to the Land of Reason, at first Alice was confused. Last time he had done that, it was to protect her from danger. But why this time?

“We’re going together,” he assured her. “I know you left without saying goodbye and you miss everyone from your old life. So we’re going to spend a month with your family and friends so you can assure them that you’re doing alright and see them once more. Sounds good?” When Alice just nods, overwhelmed with happiness at the thought, Fenrir smiles and embraces her.

Alice didn’t regret her decision to stay in Cradle, even for a second. But for some reason she had thought that once she had made a choice, it was final. If she decided to live in this magic Wonderland, she had to abandon her home forever.

But there was Fenrir, the love of her life, who had seen right into her heart and found a way to erase her worries and gift her with even more happiness than she thought possible.

Thus they found themselves in the garden at the next full moon, with quite more luggage than necessary. It was mostly Seth’s fault, though. At first MC had taken only a small bag with necessities, since most of her things were still in her old apartment. They only needed to get Fenrir’s stuff. But seeing how little she had planned to take for an entire month, Seth switched to panicked-big-sis mode and packed an entire suitcase in the span of mere minutes. However, he did remind her to get her friends and family gifts from Cradle, so she was grateful.

“Ready?”

“I should be the one asking. Prepared to fall into the rabbit hole into an entirely new world with no magic, where you aren’t allowed to shoot guns?”

“I’m ready for the fight of my life!”

The Land of Reason sure wasn’t as epic as he made it sound, but it was reassurance enough.

Although he hadn’t really expected the fall. Why hadn’t he expected it? Alice warned him beforehand. But boy, that didn’t make sense. She had fallen into Cradle from the sky. So why were they falling out Cradle as well? Shouldn’t they be, I don’t know, flying towards the sky or something?

Magic is weird.

It was late when they found themselves in the park, so they headed towards her old apartment for the night.

On their way, Fenrir was taking everything in and always asking questions. He knew her world was different, but it was another thing to see it for himself. “These weird rectangles all people seem to be holding. Are those the smartphones you mentioned?” “Was this fast thing the car you once told me about? It does indeed seem more comfortable than a carriage.” “Those screens are lighten up and are moving! How the hell does this work without magic crystals?”

“…I don’t actually know. I’ve always been bad at this stuff.” (same, Alice, same. Let me fall into Cradle and forget that science is a thing)

You decide to meet your friends first, because you know it’ll be easier to explain them the whole situation. (and because I only wanna write their meeting with her gang, which was meant to be a shameless self-insert with my friend group, but I got tired writing it)

After they wake up the next day, Alice texts her old friends she hadn’t used a phone in months, what is this? in their group chat, that has hundreds of missed messages, many of which aimed at her or regarding her disappearance. She ignored those for now, still feeling that ping of guilt, and asked to meet them all at their usual spot, which was a little playground with some benches, surrounded by grass. It was where they had played as kids and later on kept as a hangout spot, since barely any people went there anymore. Right after he message was sent, her friends freaked out and texted her back, mostly in all caps, asking where she had been. Alice didn’t respond for less than ten seconds, but her phone was already ringing.

“WHAT HAPPENED, GIRL? WHERE WERE YOU? IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?” It was a bit overwhelming, but it was nice hearing her friend’s voice.

“Hey, Rhia, I promise I’m fine. I’ll explain everything later”.

Fenrir placed a soothing hand on her knee and offered a smile. He knows how much she hates making people worry and could practically feel the anxiety pouring out of her in that moment.

An hour later, they were walking towards the place. They’re still a few minutes early, but MC knew her friends well enough to guess that they’ve all talked to each other previously and decided to go early so they were all together when she arrived. Fenrir held her hand during the whole way and didn’t say a word. She had a lot on her mind and he gives her the space she needs to sort those thought out.

As she thought, the others were already waiting for them when they arrived. Two girls and one boy. Fenrir had heard about them already. They lived in the same neighborhood and had always been together. Many people had joined and left their group, but in the end, they were the four that always stayed, always chose each other before anyone else.

Until Alice had left them to live in Cradle without saying anything. From what he had heart, Fenrir was sure that they would acknowledge her happiness and understand and respect her decision. She didn’t seem that confident, though.

“We thought you had been kidnapped! Murdered even! And now you come with a boy? Did you abandon us for some stupid boyfriend?”, one of the girls, probably Rhia, from what he knew, screamed at her.

“I was actually kidnapped at one point,” argued Alice. Probably not the best way to start the conversation.

All her friends froze, not knowing whether it was one of her usual jokes or something real. Fenrir spoke up, hoping to break at least some of the tension. “Hi, I’m Fenrir. Indeed her boyfriend, but definitely not the one who kidnapped her.” And then softly, only so Alice could hear him “Do you want me to leave you alone for this?” She shook her head and so he stayed.

She started her story. She told them about meeting Blanc and falling down the rabbit hole, discovering that the fantasy land from “Alice in Wonderland” was real, albeit a bit different than the book. She told them how she was stuck there for a month, but then didn’t want to leave when she had to. Told them of the world and the armies and all her adventures there.

“Thanks for listening to everything. I don’t know if you can believe me, but I promise that-“

“Of course we believe you”, the boy, Kian, said. “We made a promise when we were kids, remember? If something supernatural happens to one of us, the others have to hear them out and believe them. Or at least believe that they believe themselves.” The last part wasn’t that reassuring, but the fact that they all remembered that silly children’s promise was all she needed. (here comes the self-insert. It’s a promise I have with my friends, because we’re all obsessed with magic and stuff and honestly, it’s the best thing)

“I do believe you” her other friend said, a girl with green hair. That must be Lena. “And I respect those little mind tricks. Letting us know how much you enjoy the world, adventures and new friends, but skipping out on all details on your boyfriend so we don’t assume you’re just ditching us for some boy”

Fenrir tensed at that. He had never thought about it that way, but her friends hadn’t been there when they had fallen in love. Of course they would assume the worst. He himself wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told him he would find another person to be his partner in crime. There had never been someone equally as important to him as Ray, until he met Alice. She was their Ray, but they had lost her for a while and didn’t know why.

“I know you’re all mad that I disappeared, but I also know that you’re worried because you care. Because of that, I wanted to assure you that I’ve got it all figured out. I’ve got an amazing home, awesome friends, a job that makes me happy and all in a world that feels more like home than anything here ever has. So you don’t need to worry about me. I’m doing it for myself, not for him. However, I do love Fenrir. I’m pretty sure I always will.”

That was enough for them to accept it. They all offered her a smile and Fenrir could almost see the tension falling off her shoulders. Keeping Cradle a secret seemed to be more of a burden to her than even he had noticed. Now, she glowed with newly discovered freedom and Fenrir could feel his heart responding to it with a wave of warmth.

Her friends had accepted Cradle and, seeing the loving looks they gave each other, their relationship as well. However, there was still much they had to know about Fenrir. And so, they took turns asking… Or rather, testing him. Luckily, he was cool with it, amused even and Alice seemed to share his feelings.

“Weapon of choice?” “Guns” *sparkling eyes* “Swords are more badass” *angry mode activated*

“Did you know that Alice loved ghost stories so much, she had a notebook where she wrote down all her favorite ones, but doodled silly ghosties around them, because they were “too scary otherwise?”, this was supposed to be a way to embarrass Alice, but eventually lead to teasing Fenrir. “Well, I might’ve skipped that part for his sake?” “What? Too embarrassed to let him know you’re scared of your own interests?” “More like, I think that even the silly ghost doodles would’ve scared the shit out of him”

“Will you protect Alice at all cost?” “I’ll always be there if she needs me, but honestly, I’m not sure she needs it. She’s so badass, even our king is scared of her at this point” *flashback to that one time Alice took all his books out of his room and used them to close off the entrance to the place where all the cats meet. No one knew how she had managed to bring that a good hundred books into the city without anyone noticing. Whoever had helped her kept silent to this day*

“Do you accept that Alice is allowed to speak and be as friendly as she wishes with whomever she wishes and you, even as her boyfriend, have no say in it?”

Alice responded before Fenrir can: “One, he knows I’m not his property and can have my own friends. Two, I’m pretty much the only girl in the whole Black Army, so if that was an issue, we would’ve had a fight ages ago. And three, even if he gets jealous sometimes, he has no right to control my friendships in anyway without being a hypocrite, because I know he and his best friend were making out in high school.”

“Wait, who told you about that?” *baby was confused, he hadn’t told her yet*

“A girl never tells her secrets” *actually, it was just a pure guess*

Yeah, her friends loved him at the end of the day. There was no need to worry this much.

Now Alice could return to Cradle without all the guilt. And who knows, perhaps they could come visit every now and then.