2020-02-10 - Go Ask Alice

After a morning that was, if cold, at least sunny, the clouds have rolled in to punish Gray Harbor for its desire to see the sun. Snow falls steadily down, and the light that makes it in through the hospital room window is weak and gray. Alexander's in one of the cheap rooms, but has lucked out in that there's no one to share it with him right at the moment. He's also clearly getting into the restless part of his stay, and has requested the paperwork he needs to sign himself out. This being a hospital, and the doctors feeling a bit passive aggressive about the whole thing, he's likely to be here at least six more hours, and maybe a whole day. So he's in a good mood!

He's sulking in a seat by the window, attempting to work on a wooden puzzle in a star-like shape. His head still hurts, and the puzzle pieces go in and out of focus, but he's FINE, thank you. The TV is off, and the door is half-closed to provide him a little privacy. He has put on pants under his hospital gown, because nothing about a concussion requires people to see his ass.

An uncomfortable silence falls over the hallway outside, as though the nearby area was quickly and unceremoniously vacated. There's no rushed footfalls of nurses going to and fro, no conversation of patient needs or weekend plans. Just a quiet hush, unbroken by the sudden appearance of a blonde in Alexander's now fully opened door. He would not hear her coming, but she does nothing to conceal herself once she's in the doorway. Fair-skinned, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, she's both identical and the exact opposite to Violet - every piece of her is in order, hair flat and loose, clothing neat and dark in color.

"Alexander Clayton," the words break the silence in the hall finally. She takes two steps in, closes the door behind her, and focuses on the man in question. "It is nice to finally meet you."

Paranoia has its advantages. When that hush falls over the hallway, Alexander notices. He shifts his grip on the star-shaped puzzle, grabbing one of the spikes like a handle, and he's already on his feet (swaying just a little but it's fine, he's FINE) when the blond appears in the doorway. "Vi--" It cuts off, the name dying not even half formed, and his surprise-widened eyes go narrow, watchful. "Alice Whitehouse," he hazards, instead, more slowly. "It's...nice to meet you, as well." Nevermind that he's holding that puzzle like he expects to have to give someone else a concussion. An awkward silence falls, until he clears his throat. "Want something to drink? I have...water." A bleakly amused look at the hospital-issued plastic pitcher. "Lousy hospitality. Sorry."

There's a quick adjustment of her gaze to the puzzle spikes that Alexander wields, before she returns her focus to him. Unafraid, she tips her chin up slightly, a ghost of a frown on her lips at the first words - first sound? - spoken. "Yes," she is in fact Alice Whitehouse, not Vi--! Her head cocks to the side at the offering of water, like it's some kind of alien concept to her, before the frown becomes full-fledged and she gives her head a faint shake. "I'm not thirsty, thank you. They give you entire pitchers in the hospital?" Hmm. She takes another step forward, looking back at the star-shaped puzzle. It makes her brighten, briefly. "And fun puzzles. You could hurt yourself with that." Beat. "Or somebody else." Is it weird she almost looks delighted?

"Yeah. Something, something, hydration, something something, kidney stones hurt like hell," Alexander says, with the slightest hint of a smile. He glances down to follow her look at the puzzle. "I...someone brought this for me. It's not standard issue." He glances up at the mention of hurting, and yes, yes it is weird that she almost looks delighted, if his expression is anything to go by. "I'm not going to hurt anyone," he says, quiet but firm. The puzzle is put aside, and he nods to one of the other visitor chairs. "Want to sit? I'm glad to see you're okay. I've been looking for you. You probably noticed."

Alice's attention lingers on the puzzle for probably an uncomfortable period of time before she finally looks back up to Alexander. The smile remains, somewhat out of place, like it doesn't quite fit on her face. "I like puzzles," is all she says, then dips her head in a slight nod when he isn't going to hurt anybody. "Not today, anyway," she remarks just as quietly and just as firmly, then traipses over to the chair with airly light steps. She perches, prim and proper, back straight and hands neatly folding in her lap. "I've been looking for you, too," she mentions, eyes settling more studiously upon him. "But I found you. And I watched you." She keeps that uncanny smile attached to her mouth - how comforting! "I had to make sure you could be trusted."

Alexander sits when she does, although he's sort of naturally...slumpy, and so it's definitely not prim or proper. His fingers drum out a steady tattoo on his knees, even as he smiles. "I do, too. And no. Not today." The information about being watched makes him visibly twitch. But, after a moment, he inclines his head. "That makes sense. It must be difficult to find people you can trust. It was you. At the Pourhouse. During the fight, before I passed out?" It's only barely a question.

"She trusted you," Alice says quietly, too quietly, her smile dissipating in the moment as she flicks a glance to the tapping fingers on Alexander's knee. It makes her shift, the steady beat, but she rolls her shoulders back and sits up straighter, uncomfortably and stiffly so. "But she trusted the wrong people. So I had to check for myself. You can't be too careful, you can't be careful enough," that last sentence is spoken mechanically, something like an inner mantra, before she shifts her gaze back up to Alexander's. His barely a question earns him barely a nod, but another smile that seems doll-like in quality. "They won't remember you," she says it like it should be reassuring. "Well, except for the bartender maybe. I couldn't catch him. But the men? Walter? It's like you never came in at all." She's quiet for a moment, a lingering pause.

"They would have killed you," a beat, it's spoken like she's talking about the weather. "I saved your life," another beat. "You owe me a favor now."

"I trusted her, too," Alexander says, quietly. He looks down. "I'm sorry. She wanted to come and get you. She was worried about you." He looks up again, eyebrows arching. "No doubt why I haven't been asked any official questions. I was wondering." He smiles, faintly. "Thank you." He falls silent when she continues; there's no disagreement in her assessment of the intentions of the rowdies in the bar. Even if Alexander has tried not to speak about it to his friends, he knows the difference between a regular bar fight and when you're about to get beaten into the ground. "You don't have to, you know. I'll help, if you need help, Alice. Violet was my friend, and she would have wanted her friends to give you whatever aid you needed."

"Yes," to all of that about Violet - a simple acknowledgement of those things, before she drops her gaze to her lap. Alice drums her own fingers along her knee, a tap-tap-pause, tap-tap-tapping-pause, before she finds the same rhythm as Alexander's own fingers. "I didn't have to," he's right. "But I did and that's how it works. I help you, you help me." The rules of life~ At least in Alice's little world. There's a longer pause as she focuses on the rhythm of their drumming fingers, her expression rather blank and emotionless when she looks back up to Alexander again. "They are going to come for me," yet another rule of life. "They will want to bring me back. Things... changed. The new Doctor.." she doesn't complete the thought. "I don't want to return. I like being free."

Alexander's head tilts to one side, watching her fingers. Then her face. Then her fingers again. "All right," he says, accepting that conception of the world without complaint. His expression hardens, fractionally, at the mention of the new Doctor. "...is he the one responsible for Violet's death?" he asks, just as emotionless as she is, if you ignore the fact that his hands clench briefly into fists before they resume their tapping. "And if I can help keep you free, then I will."

"Yes," Alexander's question about the Doctor being responsible is answered without Alice missing a beat. It's immediate, exact, she doesn't even blink, he barely even gets the question out before she's answering it. Maybe it is too quick, which is why she quiets for a moment and looks back down at her hands. She pauses in her tapping when he does ... and then quietly resumes to his beat. "That place is bad," she murmurs, looking suddenly sullen. "You should probably try not to go there." Just some life advice, Alexander~

Alexander watches Alice, his near-black gaze flat and intense with focus. The immediate answer gets a blink, his tapping pauses again but this time only for a second, before resuming. "People said they saw you. Before Violet and Alejandro disappeared. In the town. And that you might have been involved with freeing some of the other people in the Asylum, with another woman. Could you tell me what's been happening with you?" Her advice draws the faintest of smiles. "I hear that a lot. It's like people think I'm not a perfectly stable individual or something."

"Who are these people?" asks Alice, her brows lifting with the question. "Can they be trusted? I don't know who Alejandro is," she admits with a quick shake of her head. "People can't be trusted. They see things, say things, but you don't know if they are being honest or if they are helping Them. Be vigilant. I told Violet, she didn't listen, I told her to be vigilant and now she is dead." There's not even a blink. "But is it my fault that people left the bad place? Is it?" it's a challenge, she picks her chin up as she stares at Alexander. "I didn't change the world. I didn't make everything different. And different again, can't you feel it?"

"A woman who was in the asylum with you, for one. Julia? She said she saw you, or thought she did." Alexander hesitates when she says she doesn't know who Alejandro is. "Violet's doctor. She might have called him Alex." He even manages not to say but that wasn't actually his NAME in aggrieved tones, although his jaw works a little to suppress the immediate desire. "When Alice went looking for you, he went with her." And Alexander has no tact, so when she asks if it's her fault, he says, "I haven't decided yet. It might be. Did you release them intentionally?"

Of course, then she has to bring up changing the world, and he clears his throat and looks away. "We didn't know," he says, with a touch of exasperation.

"Julia?" There's a blink and a frown and an almost aggressive shake of her head. Just from body language alone, it's clear the name doesn't ring a bell and that might be causing just a tiny bit (a lot bit) of frustration in Alice. "People see things, they say they see things. It's Them," she insists, frowning at Alexander. "Why don't you understand? Maybe you can't be trusted." And then he brings up Violet's doctor and Alice goes board-stiff. It's a shock to the system, almost back-breaking, how suddenly stiff she goes.

"Violet trusted the wrong people," she insists, and gets to her feet. "Keep me safe or I will make sure you are never safe again, Alexander Clayton," she snaps.

Alexander stands as quickly as she does, and his expression has gone dark and hard. "Don't," he snaps right back at her. "Do not ever threaten me, Alice Whitehouse. I'm going to help you because Violet was my friend, and because right now I think it's the right thing to do. I won't give you, or anyone else, to Them. I won't. But you ask, you don't demand, and you sure as hell don't force. I'm not your tool. Are we clear?" Then he softens, just a little, and reaches for the little wooden puzzle. It was a gift from a friend, but after a moment, he offers it over to her. "Here." His voice is rough. "Consider it a 'getting free' present."

Alice's expression can go dark and hard, too, Alexander. Two can play at the game of CRAZY! "It's not a threat," she says finally, rolling her shoulders back, keeping herself straight. Picture perfect posture, this one has. But she sounds like she's saying the truth.. if only because it wasn't a threat. It was a PROMISE. "But we are clear." Then her attention is captured by the offered puzzle. She stares at it for a long time, before she tips her chin to the table at his bedside. "I'll take it from the table." Beat. "Thank you."

"Good." Alexander doesn't have picture perfect posture. His shoulders are almost permanently hunched, like he expects someone to yell 'stop, thief' at him at any moment. But he watches her without flinching for a moment longer, then nods. The puzzle is placed down on the bedside table, without hesitation or any indication that this is strange. Because let's get real - Alexander is not going to be the one to complain about people's weird restrictions on what they will or won't touch. "You're welcome. Is there anything else I can do for you, right now? You've got funds, a place to stay, all of that?"

Alice keeps Alexander in her peripheral as she inches to the table, wary and careful like she's expecting him to jump her at any second. It's probably something telling of her past however many years with how she grabs for the puzzle - a quick snatch, and then she cradles it against her chest, a full embrace with both arms, and a few quick steps backwards towards the door. "I have a safe place," she assures him, assures herself, whichever. "You won't find me." Then she skitters back further into the doorway. "But I will find you. I hope your head feels better." And then she turns on her heel and disappears down the hallway.

Alexander keeps his hands up and open, stepping away as she inches forward. He inclines his head, pivoting to watch her. "Stay safe," he says, to her, and waits until she is gone before letting out a breath. "Yes, Alexander. This will go well," he mutters to himself, and sinks back into his chair. It's not sarcasm if no one can hear you but you, okay?