(no subject)
(Short)
He's another city loner; a tattoo of a mushroom on one knuckle, and strangely shaped nails. He looks skinny and dishevelled--almost feral--and he grins all the time, an untrustworthy gleaming conman's smile that looks almost crazy in the wrong (right?) light.
He's aloof and smug and superior; cold to those who pursue him, drawn to those who don't care. He's got a lot of bad habits; alcohol is the one closest to his heart.
To the eye, he might be all of twenty-two. The truth is much more complicated.
(And long)
***
The Cheshire Cat was a large tabby nominally belonging to the Duchess. He seemed rather fond of argument (even moreso than many Wonderlanders), tweaking authority, and Alice. He had the ability to fade, disappearing in whole or in part, quickly or slowly, and reappearing elsewhere.
`Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'
He grinned a great deal, and although he was friendly, he did have very sharp teeth and claws.
***
Bruno was a kitten of Dinah's, born very timely, just as Alice began asking her mother about a little brother. That proper Victorian lady was very happy to be able to provide Alice with her very own kitten instead of any explanations. Bruno was the only tom in that litter, and was so named by Alice's father. Alice never gave him any name at all.
Despite this Alice was very fond of him, and he of her; he was content to manhandled and lugged about by a small child, but would disappear if anyone else attempted to pay him any attention. Alice treated him much as her older sister treated her, reading to him from her lessons and lecturing him very seriously about manners.
He seemed to be in all respects a normal cat; fleet of foot, aloof towards his friends and lavish with unwanted affection on the enemies of his kind, skittish and scattered and mad. But one day something terrible happened to Alice; something a very small cat could neither prevent nor repair. And very soon after, both Alice and Bruno vanished, suddenly and softly away, and neither her family nor Dinah never saw them again.
***
Something happened in Wonderland, something further; things got worse. Worser and worser. He blamed himself; never Alice. Poor little Alice.
***
The little boy who appeared in the streets of Kansas City that summer did not have a name; he did not have any clothes; he did not have eyes or fingernails like normal people's. It did not take him very long to learn to cover up, to cover it all up, and he took to survival in the streets and the alleys far better than anyone as terribly young as him should have. Those who tried to prey on him found that he was fast, and seemed to have a wonderful ability to escape, and was quite, quite mad. He smiled all the time, and he laughed when he should have cried, and got angry when he should've been pleased.
Those he trusted (although before long there were few, and then none, of these), discovered that he was looking for his sister.
As he got older, not finding her, he became less sure of who he was, and less able of escape, and things became very dark indeed.
It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and
then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else"
***
The name on his checks was Bruno Carroll; sometimes, depending on who he talked to, he was Tom Lewis or Lewis Chess. He started at Cabbages & Kings, the novelty head shop, because he would work under the table for less than minimum wage--he told the manager, Mr. Wallace, that he was an illegal from South Africa, explaining away an odd accent and a lack of papers and a host of other oddities--and because he had a connection, was disposable. He worked like a dog and became the assistant manager. He made just enough to keep body and soul together, and he wondered why. Sometimes he wondered a lot.
He drank too much and he smoked too much and he had other bad habits. One of his bad habits was called Josh, a contractor with rough, cruel hands. Josh made him laugh, a bad, brittle sound.
He watched the newspapers, the classifieds for cries for help, and the obituaries for cries for help unheard; when he heard about an Alice or a Sylvie or a Maryann who leapt from a high place or filled her veins with too much wonder, he wondered what she found at the bottom, and if he was alone yet. He hoped not.
He didn't remember how to get home, not any longer, but he had something special saved for them, if he could only find her; enough for one last trip down the rabbit-hole and away from all of this cold, cruel sanity. One last fade-out.
***
Maybe (Option 1) he hasn't found her yet.
Or maybe (Option 2)--
He never found her.
But one day, she found him.
He's another city loner; a tattoo of a mushroom on one knuckle, and strangely shaped nails. He looks skinny and dishevelled--almost feral--and he grins all the time, an untrustworthy gleaming conman's smile that looks almost crazy in the wrong (right?) light.
He's aloof and smug and superior; cold to those who pursue him, drawn to those who don't care. He's got a lot of bad habits; alcohol is the one closest to his heart.
To the eye, he might be all of twenty-two. The truth is much more complicated.
(And long)
***
The Cheshire Cat was a large tabby nominally belonging to the Duchess. He seemed rather fond of argument (even moreso than many Wonderlanders), tweaking authority, and Alice. He had the ability to fade, disappearing in whole or in part, quickly or slowly, and reappearing elsewhere.
`Well, then,' the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'
He grinned a great deal, and although he was friendly, he did have very sharp teeth and claws.
***
Bruno was a kitten of Dinah's, born very timely, just as Alice began asking her mother about a little brother. That proper Victorian lady was very happy to be able to provide Alice with her very own kitten instead of any explanations. Bruno was the only tom in that litter, and was so named by Alice's father. Alice never gave him any name at all.
Despite this Alice was very fond of him, and he of her; he was content to manhandled and lugged about by a small child, but would disappear if anyone else attempted to pay him any attention. Alice treated him much as her older sister treated her, reading to him from her lessons and lecturing him very seriously about manners.
He seemed to be in all respects a normal cat; fleet of foot, aloof towards his friends and lavish with unwanted affection on the enemies of his kind, skittish and scattered and mad. But one day something terrible happened to Alice; something a very small cat could neither prevent nor repair. And very soon after, both Alice and Bruno vanished, suddenly and softly away, and neither her family nor Dinah never saw them again.
***
Something happened in Wonderland, something further; things got worse. Worser and worser. He blamed himself; never Alice. Poor little Alice.
***
The little boy who appeared in the streets of Kansas City that summer did not have a name; he did not have any clothes; he did not have eyes or fingernails like normal people's. It did not take him very long to learn to cover up, to cover it all up, and he took to survival in the streets and the alleys far better than anyone as terribly young as him should have. Those who tried to prey on him found that he was fast, and seemed to have a wonderful ability to escape, and was quite, quite mad. He smiled all the time, and he laughed when he should have cried, and got angry when he should've been pleased.
Those he trusted (although before long there were few, and then none, of these), discovered that he was looking for his sister.
As he got older, not finding her, he became less sure of who he was, and less able of escape, and things became very dark indeed.
It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying "Come up again, dear!" I shall only look up and say "Who am I then? Tell me that first, and
then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if not, I'll stay down here till I'm somebody else"
***
The name on his checks was Bruno Carroll; sometimes, depending on who he talked to, he was Tom Lewis or Lewis Chess. He started at Cabbages & Kings, the novelty head shop, because he would work under the table for less than minimum wage--he told the manager, Mr. Wallace, that he was an illegal from South Africa, explaining away an odd accent and a lack of papers and a host of other oddities--and because he had a connection, was disposable. He worked like a dog and became the assistant manager. He made just enough to keep body and soul together, and he wondered why. Sometimes he wondered a lot.
He drank too much and he smoked too much and he had other bad habits. One of his bad habits was called Josh, a contractor with rough, cruel hands. Josh made him laugh, a bad, brittle sound.
He watched the newspapers, the classifieds for cries for help, and the obituaries for cries for help unheard; when he heard about an Alice or a Sylvie or a Maryann who leapt from a high place or filled her veins with too much wonder, he wondered what she found at the bottom, and if he was alone yet. He hoped not.
He didn't remember how to get home, not any longer, but he had something special saved for them, if he could only find her; enough for one last trip down the rabbit-hole and away from all of this cold, cruel sanity. One last fade-out.
***
Maybe (Option 1) he hasn't found her yet.
Or maybe (Option 2)--
He never found her.
But one day, she found him.