Happy birthday to me...[Gaston]

[Deleted]

Alyss had promised to stop feeling sorry for herself, and for the most part, she had truly succeeded. Had even managed to gather up some friendly acquaintances. Even she and Della had found enough common ground to become roommates. The only time she ever thought of her misfortunes anymore was when she actually visited her aunt at the hospital. She had never even been sure of why she even bothered, even kept her alive. She could have probably found a means to get away with it.

It was only today, the anniversary of the day Redd had truly become her enemy, and the bewildered doctor said that she had disappeared did she realize why she had let the devil woman live: she was all she had left of Wonderland. Only now, sitting on one of the benches at the Commons, did Alyss realize just how alone she really was this time. And on her birthday, no less.

Well, she supposed she could have gone to Della, but honestly, the girl already had a lot to think about, and she knew how tight money was and how obligated the girl would feel. So no, bringing attention to it would never do. Perhaps if she went to the park, she could be lucky and find Theo again. That one picnic they had shared had been lovely...

With a sigh, however, Alyss reminded herself that, just now, what she could really use was someone who...really knew her. Not that this was even possible. She had spent her whole life pretending, and the people who knew she was the princess of a magical land...how could they know who she was when they hadn't known one another for that long and...in truth, when she didn't even know who she was? She was twenty years old now and it was only just occurring to her that somewhere along the way, she had lost herself.

"Well..." she murmured, looking down at her reflection in the fountain, certain she was coming upon something like an epiphany. "I suppose if there was ever a day to start looking for myself again, it's now..." In the midst of her realization, she found a coin in her pocket. There are certainly sillier things than this, aren't there? Like jabberwocks and men who come back from the dead.

In that spirit, she tossed her coin into the fountain. She wasn't quite sure of what her wish was, but she was sure if the fountain would really be of any help, it would figure it out.

[gaston]

"I'll help you find yourself. As many times as you like." And he appeared, every girls dream, the man every woman wanted, and every man wanted to be, the one, the only, Gaston. He appeared around the other side of the fountain, winking at the girl, the old familiar lecherous smirk back in place. He made his way over to the girl. "I'll help you find yourself all night long." He grinned, placing one foot on the fountain and leaning towards her, towering over her, his huge bulk, intimidating and claustrophobic to most people, crowding in on her.

This was his way of getting over Gwen, of moving on. He was fast heading back to his old ways, only this time he was actually making the leap and going to bed with the girls, instead of chickening out at the last minute, or drinking so much he fell asleep before he could get any further. He'd honestly lost count of the amount of girls he'd spent the night with since he returned to school, 99% of which he had no idea of their names. It was clearly the way forward, the way to move on, the most healthy healing process. That's what he kept telling himself, anyway. So far all the alcohol and boobs were doing pretty well at consoling him.

And now he'd found what was soon to be his latest conquest. He'd made the move, laid down the first line, revealed himself in all his glory, and now he revealed his piece-de-resistance, the smile. Teeth flashing, one eyebrow raised at a jaunty yet dashing angle, his face close to hers. "So, what do you say?"

[Deleted]

The coin had barely left Alyss' hand when her thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Her head whipped around towards the unfamiliar voice, and found a muscular, almost brutish looking man, although she was never one to make such judgements so quickly, and people could have easily said equally nasty things upon first glance at...but she wouldn't think too much about that, no.

Honestly, it was more of the man's tone that impacted her thought's choice of words. There was a confidence in his tone when he claimed he could help her find herself. What sort of nonsense was that? As if an utter stranger could succeed where people who knew her far better had failed. Now, Alyss wasn't completely naive about more...carnal relationships, but the fact was that it wasn't normally something people she knew spoke of. The closest she had come was when Della told her, completely in shock, that she had kissed Panic. For obvious reasons, they never spoke of the last person Della had kissed, let alone what else the relationship had entailed.

In other words, when Alyss suddenly realized just what the stranger meant by "finding herself", she was more than a little offended, enough that her normally calm exterior was a struggle to keep up. How did you even respond to that sort of thing?

Fortunately by the time he was her an opening to respond, she had somewhat collected herself and was every bit the well brought up lady the Liddel's had raised. "Sir, while I suppose I ought to appreciate the offer, I hardly think it proper to accept. Excuse me." And with that, she made an attempt to get away from the man and that smile that seemed more like the warning of an ape's attack than any welcoming gesture.

[gaston]

He barely noticed her attempt to get away from him, as he shifted his large, muscly bulk to corner her completely, cutting off any escape route as he leaned in towards her. He smirked as he saw her discomfort, and he placed an arm on either side of her, resting on the fountain and imprisoning her.

"Proper, Shmoper." Gaston smirked, an eyebrow raised. "What does propriety matter in a place like this? No one ever got anywhere by being 'proper'." He leant a little closer, breathing in deeply as he caught her scent. He was well aware of how intimidating he could be, especially to a girl so much smaller than he was, but at this moment he didn't care. He was far too confident in his ability to seduce any woman on the face of the earth. And, of course, who could resist such mighty charms? He was well aware that he was the handsomest, most desirable man at Tintagel, probably in existance, and this girl's trepidation and refusal was clearly just her playing hard to get. Well, she wouldn't be hard to get for long.

Of course, his sudden return to his old habits had nothing to do with Gwen. Why would they? And of course, his sureity and over-confidence in his looks had nothing to do with the total insecurity he had felt ever since... well, ever since all the stuff had happened. Not that any of that mattered now. Nope, what mattered now, right now, was the girl in front of him.

"So, how about a kiss?" He grinned, puckering up his lips.

[Deleted]

Well she supposed it wouldn’t be that easy, now would it? With a mental sigh and the willpower of a saint, she managed to not roll her eyes at the fact that he wasn’t letting her go. It seemed as though Della was rubbing off on her somewhat, though, which wouldn’t do at all. Loved her roommate as she did, she didn’t quite want to be as snarky as the other girl was. Her general polite nature served Alyss better, as far as she was concerned, so she merely looked up at the man, trying her best to keep her cool, because she was no object for this man to play with. She was hardly that kind of girl, seeing as she just had the most basic knowledge, for one thing, and just imagine how Mrs. Liddell would react if she saw this.

His words were perhaps a bit expected, it was the sort of thing that men often used when they had absolutely no respect for women, she was sure…but did he just smell her? She nearly shrieked in horror, but once again, contained herself as she simply backed away. He was simply proving that he was playing to his very basic animal instincts, clearly and he was simply going to have to learn that this wasn’t the way to get any girls with self respect.

“Once again, I’ll simply have to decline,” she insisted, turning her face away from him. “Again, I suppose I’m flattered, but you simply aren’t my type.” Did she really think that her second attempt at getting away would be of any use? Honestly, no. But what good would not trying be?