Don't Kiss & Tell

[Alice Calder]

[ tagged for Avalynn O'Shea ]

A sense of normalcy was nice. Nothing had really changed and nothing really had to. Only two days in and the pleasant hum of her routine was greeted with an almost newfound enthusiasm. She was always busy, doing one thing or another, and it appeared as if nothing was amiss. Truthfully, she was struggling. With every event that had taken place at the ball still fresh in her mind, it was becoming increasingly more annoying to try and ignore. But shoving it all down, Alice made her way into the palace’s large kitchen, pouring herself a small cup of tea that one of the maids had only just prepared.

It was still fairly early and, as per usual, Alice was among one of the first to rise. The pink and yellow colors peeking over the horizon were the only indication of morning against the quiet of the palace. It was no secret that she was a notorious night owl, seemingly more at home under a blanket of stars. But Alice loved the sunrise just as much as she loved the sunset. While most of the palace was still sleeping, she was free to enjoy the view, to watch the sun slowly begin to light up the still dim kitchen. This ritual she’d created for herself was almost therapeutic. It was the only time throughout her day that her thoughts of Nathaniel were quietest.

Leaning against the wooden prep table set up in the middle of the kitchen space, her dark green dress made her almost blend in against the limited light. The small cup of tea was cradled in her hands, held close to her face as she closed her eyes, inhaling the steam before taking a small sip. Her brown eyes returned to the window for only a few seconds before another body was entering the kitchen. Her eyes flickered to Ava before settling back on the horizon. “Avalynn, good morning.” She called to the blonde in greeting before taking another sip of her drink.

She and Ava weren’t exactly close, but Ava was perhaps the closest thing Alice had to a friend. Being the same age and having known each other for the last six years, it was hardly fair to consider Ava a mere acquaintance. Besides, there wasn’t anyone else that Alice felt she could openly laugh with. Polar opposites or not, she and Ava appeared to get along well and the tall blonde seemed to have an innate ability to bring out a more relaxed and playful side of Alice. Perhaps that was why she’d grown to enjoy Ava's company.

[Avalynn O'Shea]

Avalynn found herself unable to sleep for most of the evening. She had faded in and out of sleep every so often, but when she woke just before the sun rose and she had been unable to fall back asleep, she finally stopped fighting it and got herself up and ready for the day. At least her cheerful expressions might be able to mask how tired she would be throughout the day.

The chase and the ball had certainly given her cause to think of many things. She had caught Shane up in a tree, nearly broke her ankle, and she spent the evening with the older gentleman sailor, whom she wasn’t certain she would ever see again. He was a sailor and avoided court whenever possible. Maybe the chase and the ball would be all they had and that was the end of that. Still, she liked to think she had made some sort of impression on the man, at least.

Yule was over now, and while it was somewhat of a relief, Avalynn was also saddened by its end. She loved the time of year and how warm and friendly everyone typically got. She loved the whole atmosphere and feeling of Yule. But it reminded her of her father and her family-how close they had been when he was alive and all the traditions that had slowly faded away after his passing. It made her heart ache with loneliness more than anything.

The halls were so eerily quiet as she walked down them that the soles of her boots caused an echo through the stone walls. It made her cringe and she walked slower, trying to quieten the sound as she did not wish to disturb anyone. But her stomach was growling at her and she needed some sort of caffeine to try and wake herself up a bit more. So she headed towards the kitchen, half expecting the room to be empty, so when she heard the voice speak her name, she jumped with a startle and somehow managed to knock over a basket of apples, causing various thuds to sound throughout the room as each apple fell to the floor. Avalynn stood frozen, her mouth hung wide open in shock before her bright blue eyes lifted to find Alice, one of her hands placed over her chest to try and steady her breaths and then she laughed out loud.

As if to try and play nonchalance as if what had happened didn’t, she leaned an elbow against the wall and leaned her head into her hand, striking an innocent pose. “Good morning, Alice! How are you?” She laughed again before standing straight. “Sorry… I wasn’t expecting to find anyone here this early.” She crouched down to begin picking up the apples, placing them back into the basket. “I would ask you why you’re up so early...But I think you usually are, right?” For someone as tired as she was, she seemingly had a lot more energy than a normal person might have running on the lack of sleep she had gotten.

While Alice seemed to be a strong and intimidating woman to most, Avalynn had known her long enough to have seen various sides of her, and she knew better than to feel nervous around her. They had different personalities but had known each other long enough to appreciate one another and get along. She loved Alice as if she were a sister.

Once the apples were all picked up, she stood back up and set the basket back on the counter she had knocked it from. She laughed at herself and brushed her hands off on her dark blue dress. “Any tea left?”

[Alice Calder]

Alice had stood straight from where she leaned against the table at the sound of the apples hitting the floor. In a mere instant, she'd placed her cup on the surface of the table, lifting an eyebrow before chuckling quietly at the blonde's pose. Avalynn was certainly something else.

She made her way over, helping the young woman pick up the apples as she began to make conversation. Alice offered something of a smile and nodded once. "This is my favorite time of day, aside from nighttime, of course, so I am almost always here at this hour." She replied. "What has you about so early? Trouble sleeping?" She asked her as the last of the apples were placed back into their basket. It wasn't uncommon for folks to sometimes stumble into the kitchen this early if sleep evaded them. Alice was among them, though for the most part, she did actively choose to be up this early. Or rather, her internal clock was trained for it and didn't allow for much leniency otherwise. She almost had no choice but to do as her body and it's own time schedule commanded.

Making her way back to where she was propped earlier, her cup of tea returned to clasped hands as Avalynn spoke up once more. Alice nodded as she took a sip from her cup. "Plenty. And it's fresh, too." Dark eyes returned to the horizon. "We haven't had much time to speak since the ball. Did you have an enjoyable time?" She asked, clearly just trying to make small talk the best she could. Despite the fact that she and Avalynn got along well enough, Alice still found it difficult to carry out a light-hearted conversation. Getting close to people just wasn't quite her strong suit, but at least she tried, right?

[Avalynn O'Shea]

Avalynn almost protested Alice’s help with the apples-- it had been her fault they fell and she should be the one to pick them up. Instead, she bit her tongue and allowed the help, silently thanking Alice for doing so. She laughed silently and shook her head. “I have been so clumsy lately-- I’m not entirely sure why.” No Avalynn, you have always been so clumsy. The thought crossed her mind and she huffed a small laugh. “More than usual….” She corrected herself.

She liked to think that she and Alice knew one another long enough to know certain things about each other. One of which was that Avalynn had always been clumsy--she had never quite grown into her long legs. She knew Alice well enough to know that her marriage had changed her. Just as Alice knew about how the death of her father had changed so many things about herself, despite how hard Avalynn tried to hide it from everyone. The last thing she wanted was pity or attention from others. Still, there was a slight lightness that had left Avalynn after it all.

“I think it’s my favorite time, too. It’s so quiet and peaceful. I can have some time to myself, or get a lot of things done before everyone starts to wake up and need things.” She giggled softly and shrugged her shoulders before standing and brushing her hands off on her skirt. “Thank you,” she said in regards to Alice helping her pick up the apples.

She stepped over to the table and began pouring some of the tea into a cup for herself, sighing quietly. “I’m almost always up really early--but for some reason, I did have a hard time sleeping last night. I hope this tea is also strong.” She plopped a sugar cube into her cup and stirred it around before taking a seat at the table and quietly blew on the hot liquids, clasping the cup in both her hands, enjoying the warmth.

“I did have an enjoyable time at the ball! For the most part. Did you?” She smirked before hiding it behind the rim of her cup, slowly drinking the tea before lowering it just enough to talk against the cup. “I saw you sitting at a table with a handsome man...And you were…” She paused and gave her a questioning and curious glance. “Smiling?” She cautiously teased her. She hadn’t seen the woman smile like that in quite some time. Avalynn wasn’t certain if Alice would open up to her and tell her about her evening--No, she was almost certain Alice wouldn’t, but she could try and pry a little bit, right?

[Alice Calder]

As Ava commented on her own clumsiness, Alice huffed a single laugh. "Sounds to me as if you are simply distracted." The brunette smirked, not turning her gaze to Avalynn. As the blonde began to speak about her enjoyment with the morning hours, Alice nodded her agreement, mumbling a quiet 'you're welcome' in response to Ava's thanks.

Ava was a smart girl. Where others might have questioned just why Alice changed after her divorce, Ava seemed to have some idea. Perhaps not of the events that had unfurled, but she'd always seemed to see that something hadn't ever really been quite right. Even after it was all said and done, Ava had been there - or at least tried to be - but Alice had brushed her aside, just as she'd done to everyone after the fact. Sometimes she felt bad for it, but other times, she accepted that what was done, was done. Truthfully, Alice knew that she and Ava could have had a beautiful friendship. Hell, the two of them had been on track to become fast friends when they'd first met. While Avalynn had never done anything to her to constitute Alice shutting her out, it had almost been more of a 'I don't need anyone' situation. As if Alice wanted to prove to herself that she could be strong on her own, that she didn't need support or anyone's love to make it through what was perhaps the hardest moment of her life. She'd been right, and perhaps that only served to solidify the belief that she needed no one, even though she felt impossibly lonely at times.

Ava's voice was pulling her gently back to their conversation as she looked at the blonde who was sitting down, cup in hand, not far from where Alice leaned against the table, dark eyes still focused on the horizon as the sun continued to rise above the hills in the distance, the golden glow providing more light for the dark kitchen. "It seems that sleep also evaded me to some degree." Alice muttered in agreement before she was chuckling at Ava's comment about the tea. "It was made by yours truly, so I can guarantee it's strength. One of the maids refused to touch it when she realized I'd made it." Alice chuckled lightly. "I'd recommend more than one cube of sugar." She shrugged with as light-hearted a smile as she could muster, though it still looked impossibly forced.

Finally answering her question about the ball, Alice was opening her mouth to state she was glad Avalynn had an enjoyable time before the young woman was steering the conversation towards her, causing Alice to tense slightly. She took a sip of tea to mask her sudden unease, giving Ava the slightest of smiles. "It would have been impolite to scowl at him the entire time, wouldn't you agree?" Alice asked, her voice perhaps more stern than she intended even though she attempted to throw a dash of humor into the words. She'd cleverly avoided telling her who this handsome man was, and hoped the girl didn't ask. Knowing Ava, the misdirection wouldn't be lost on her. She was as sharp as Alice was, something that was sometimes beneficial and other times - like now - problematic. Besides that, the young woman sure liked to pry, especially when her curiosity got the better of her. Alice actually admired that about her. She was much the same, after all.