[fanfic fifty] [heart no kuni] 34. Disguise
Title: Dream Interpretation
Author: spicy_diamond
Fandom: Heart no Kuni no Alice
Characters: Nightmare Gottschalk / Alice Liddell
Table: Four
Prompt: 34. Disguise
Rating: PG
Challenge: fanfic50
Summary: [Anniversary] They say that dreams are the embodiment of unconscious desires
Word Count: 393
'A game?'
She remembers her sister's laugh, the smell of the grass, and the glint gold from the embossed binding of the book Lorina had been reading before she stood up, brushing her skirts as she turned to leave.
'They say that dreams are the embodiment of unconscious desires... Perhaps we should play a game then, since you seem to be craving a challenge. How about a game of cards?'
It might have been true then, but now, Alice is sure that this isn't the kind of game she had been wanting to play - this strange world with its stranger inhabitants. The idea that this world is supposedly a representation of her unconscious desires? Laughable. She refuses to believe it.
“If you're looking for a change of pace we could always play a game of chess instead?” Nightmare's suggestion floats down casually, his voice colored with poorly repressed amusement. And Alice doesn't have to look to know that he's giving her that annoyingly, knowing grin again.
“I don't want to play chess either.” She glares up at him anyway and the expected grin grows merrily. Alice crosses her arms at him for emphasis. “What I want is to go home.”
Then. An afterthought.
“And I keep telling you to stop reading my mind!” She narrows her eyes further at him.
“I can hardly help it. You think far to much.” His shrug is entirely unapologetic. Twisting in midair, he gestures to the blank expanse of dreamspace around them and the settings flicker and fade, offering the unspoken temptation of being able to go anywhere or do anything that she might imagine. “This a dream, remember? Would it really be so bad to enjoy yourself? What else are dreams for?”
Alice's arms remain crossed.
“I don't know. What else are they for?” She frowns, brow furrowing slightly as a new thought occurs to her. “If my dreams are supposed to represent my unconscious desires, then just what does that make you, Nightmare?”
His grin shifts almost imperceptibly, still knowing, still annoying, but, at the same time, different. And Alice isn't entirely sure that she likes it.
Nightmare chuckles, touching a hand to her cheek. His voice little more than a low whisper in the suddenly stifling expanse of the dream surrounding them. “I don't know, Alice. What do you want me to be?”
Author: spicy_diamond
Fandom: Heart no Kuni no Alice
Characters: Nightmare Gottschalk / Alice Liddell
Table: Four
Prompt: 34. Disguise
Rating: PG
Challenge: fanfic50
Summary: [Anniversary] They say that dreams are the embodiment of unconscious desires
Word Count: 393
'A game?'
She remembers her sister's laugh, the smell of the grass, and the glint gold from the embossed binding of the book Lorina had been reading before she stood up, brushing her skirts as she turned to leave.
'They say that dreams are the embodiment of unconscious desires... Perhaps we should play a game then, since you seem to be craving a challenge. How about a game of cards?'
It might have been true then, but now, Alice is sure that this isn't the kind of game she had been wanting to play - this strange world with its stranger inhabitants. The idea that this world is supposedly a representation of her unconscious desires? Laughable. She refuses to believe it.
“If you're looking for a change of pace we could always play a game of chess instead?” Nightmare's suggestion floats down casually, his voice colored with poorly repressed amusement. And Alice doesn't have to look to know that he's giving her that annoyingly, knowing grin again.
“I don't want to play chess either.” She glares up at him anyway and the expected grin grows merrily. Alice crosses her arms at him for emphasis. “What I want is to go home.”
Then. An afterthought.
“And I keep telling you to stop reading my mind!” She narrows her eyes further at him.
“I can hardly help it. You think far to much.” His shrug is entirely unapologetic. Twisting in midair, he gestures to the blank expanse of dreamspace around them and the settings flicker and fade, offering the unspoken temptation of being able to go anywhere or do anything that she might imagine. “This a dream, remember? Would it really be so bad to enjoy yourself? What else are dreams for?”
Alice's arms remain crossed.
“I don't know. What else are they for?” She frowns, brow furrowing slightly as a new thought occurs to her. “If my dreams are supposed to represent my unconscious desires, then just what does that make you, Nightmare?”
His grin shifts almost imperceptibly, still knowing, still annoying, but, at the same time, different. And Alice isn't entirely sure that she likes it.
Nightmare chuckles, touching a hand to her cheek. His voice little more than a low whisper in the suddenly stifling expanse of the dream surrounding them. “I don't know, Alice. What do you want me to be?”