" well . . . " she starts , kicking her feet nervously . " that i'm not one hundred percent sure about . . . dad said that emily was murdered , and as she lay dying , she made a vow to marry whomever proposed to her . which , like i said earlier , he did on accident . "
she shrugs before beginning to walk back towards the liddells' final resting places . " maybe emily practiced a bit of magic in the afterlife ? i remember hearing about an elder gutknecht , if i'm not mistaken . . . "
Clarence snorts as the girl -- Madeline -- explains why she didn't introduce herself before. "Okay, that's fair," he allows. "Nice to meet you, Madeline. Again, sorry about scaring you like that, but..." He shrugs. "I got excited, is all I can say."
And then Madeline starts her story, and -- well, that didn't take long to get weird. (Hell, it was kind of weird from the moment she said that her father was apparently originally going to marry her godmother -- but one thing at a time.) "He -- how did he do that?" he asks, tapping his fingers against his arm. "I know you said before that it was an accident, but -- reviving the dead is magic, and I was under the impression that magic was supposed to be a direct force of will?" It certainly required a lot of his direct force of will to get up here in the first place!
the kiss back catches maddie by surprise as well as the compliment about her hair . she's still not used to such a caring partner , given all the previous ones being one-night-stands . a red tint slowly makes its way to her cheeks as she nods in response . " y-yeah , that would be lovely ! "
both sitting on her bed , madeline crawls her way to the front of jean and makes herself comfortable in a criss-cross position . she glances over her shoulder , giving her girlfriend a smile . " you know , the only people i allow to touch my hair is mum , dad , and you . these curls take a lot of caring , and not just anyone can feel them . "
the comment about her hair makes maddie think . she hasn't met jean's family yet !! " speaking of mum and dad , what are yours like ? " maddie asks .
madeline can see the confusion on clarence's face as she tells him about her father's past adventure . still , she holds her ground and continues with her pleading look until he finally gives in . that is , in exchange for giving him the whole story of victor visiting the land of the dead . " that's fair , " she admits , dropping the puppy-dog look .
she realizes she hasn't properly introduced herself , and , well . . . " apologies . i was a little too caught up in fear to give my name , " she chuckles . " my name is madeline . though , my friends and family call me maddie . "
now , onto business . " my father grew up in burtonsville , born into the van dort family . and before you ask , yes , those van dorts that run the cannery .
" he and my godmother , victoria everglot , had been seeing each other for quite a while and were getting ready to marry ; however , my father is a nervous wreck most of the time , and had trouble reciting his vows during the rehearsal .
" he decided the best way to remedy this was to run into the woods and recite his vows to the trees , and , well . . . he ended up resurrecting a dead bride . "
don't worry , clarence , this is just the beginning !
Clarence nods as she explains why she ran -- okay, yes, he will give her that, having a corpse just APPEAR like he did in front of her would frighten even the most stout-hearted, he's sure. Hell, it would have frightened him while he was alive, and he knew the afterlife existed already through all his magical research! Though it is still weird to him that she's recovered so quickly...
And then she continues on, and -- hang on, her father once accidentally married a dead bride? And went down to the Land of the Dead with her?! How the hell did THAT situation come about? Clarence is reasonably certain living people cannot marry dead ones... And now she's asking to see family downstairs and giving him -- some very convincing puppy dog eyes, he will admit that. Still, she's said a LOT of confusing things in the last minute or so... "If you're willing to explain more about what happened with your father, I'll take you Downstairs with me," Clarence decides, because that seems like a fair trade. "Because I have so many questions."
And then something important occurs to him. "Actually, wait, let's start with an easy one -- what's your name? You never actually said."
giggles erupt from the younger of the two as her fingers gently comb through jean's gorgeous locks . " yes~ " maddie answers , working out a small knot . " i can't help it , your hair is just so beautiful . just like you~ " she leans around jean's shoulder to give a peck on her cheek .
playing with their hair (for jean from maddie <3)
Jean glances over her shoulder with a grin as she feels fingers in her hair again. "Hey there, Maddie. Decided to comb it out for me again?"
maddie claps in excitement , before she stops to think what exactly they should sing together . " no , no , i'll pick . . . it's just a matter of what genre ! "
she sits in thought for a little bit , before she points at alice , " musical theatre ? "
π΅ . for alice to sing to/with maddie uwu
"I'm not particularly musical, but I will do my best to carry a tune for you," Alice tells Madeline with a smile. "Did you have a song in mind, or did you want me to pick?"
madeline shakes her head , sighing . " stupid social media . i take a break for one hour , and i come back to posts ' calling me out ' for supposedly taking someone's partner from them . . . which is not true , i didn't even know the girl had a boyfriend when we slept- uh . . . kissed . " she's not sure whether or not kissing is better or worse than sleeping with the girl , but hopefully alice doesn't catch her slip-up .
" If ignorance is bliss, I must be ecstatic. " . maddie to alice :)
"People say that, and they never actually look blissful when they do,"l Alice observes. "What are you feeling ignorant about today?"
Send a symbol to hear the following about my museβ¦
βΎ Sleeping habits
βΌ Favorite time of day
β Favorite weather
ΒΏ Term for the TV device, whether it beΒ βclickerβ,Β βremoteβ, or something else
βͺ Internet browsing activities
βΉ Response to a leaky faucet or other household problem
β‘ What their wedding invitations would look like
β What they wear around the house
β The worst kind of neighbor they could have, and how they deal with them
β¨ Their cooking ability (or lack thereof)
β How well they do yardwork (or blow up the lawnmower)
β If they like board games, and how good they are atΒ βem
β§ How clean their living space is now, and/or would be ideally
β Interior decorating aesthetic
β Any pets they might have
β What youβd find in their cabinets
β What youβd find in their toolshed (if theyβd have one)
β What theyβd hide under the bed
β What tune their doorbell has, if not a standard ding-dong
βΊ What their welcome (or not-so-welcome) mat would say
β» How late they stay up
β If they do their laundry in a timely manner
β How theyβd throw parties (what would go on at them, refreshments, etc)
β What a typical Tuesday night looks like
β₯ How theyβd invite you home for the night (yes, it could be a pickup line)
. Hey y'all! So I've got good news and bad news. TW for hospitals, ERs, and surgeries!
Bad news is, I had to go to the hospital and get my gallbladder removed.
GOOD news is the surgery is over and I feel SO MUCH BETTER!! Minus of course the soreness around incisions and whatnot.
Sorry for not being so active on here minus the life updates, BUT I PROMISE I'M HERE! I'm hoping to start writing more once I get home and start my recovery journey :)
Thank y'all for staying and for y'alls patience with me :) Love y'all!
. GASP!!!! Maddie with a new love interest??? I LOVE JEAN ALREADY!! So excited to get to know her more :) Thank you so much Vicky!!
Happy Birthday Marie!
@offwithhxrhead You requested a story where Madeline meets someone who could potentially be a new romantic interest, and I hope I have delivered:
--
βWOOOOO!β
Madeline eagerly joined in the clapping and stomping of feet as The Pondcrossers finished up their set and departed from the stage. βAwesome show, huh?β a guy next to her said, eyes bright.
βYou know it!β Madeline agreed with a beaming grin. βBest night out Iβve had in a while!β And I didnβt even need to get drunk or high off my ass to enjoy myself. Isnβt that a surprise.
βOh, donβt start with that again,β the Queen of Hearts grumbled from a far corner of her mind. βIβm rather tired of that refrain.β
Yeah, yeah, sorry, Madeline thought back, shaking her head to dispel the negativity before it could take root. I know Iβm doing a lot better these days. Been kind of a rough road to get here, sure, but β Iβm out, Iβm about, Mum and Dad trust me not to do anything stupid. Thatβs progress. She grinned back at the stage as the crowd began breaking up into smaller groups, friends chatting with friends. And that was a fucking great band! Why the hell theyβre playing this place instead of living it up in Hollywood or β or Liverpool is beyond me.
βLiverpool?β the Queen asked, one eyebrow raised.
It was the first thing that came to mind! I donβt know the party towns of England! And asking Mum or Dad isnβt going to help, given the latter grew up in the ass end of nowhere and the former spent most of her life in a psychiatric hospital. Which you didnβt help with.
βOh, shush and get us something to eat,β the Queen replied, rolling her eyes. βOne gets peckish.β
Madelineβs stomach growled in answer. One does β might as well pick up a snack before we hit the road, she agreed, working her way toward the bar. If they serve food here, anyway...places like this always have peanuts or something, right? Eh, if they donβt, Iβll just swing past the nearest burger joint and β
Is that the bass guitarist?
Madeline stopped in her tracks. Perched on a stool at the very end of the bar was indeed The Pondcrossersβ second guitarist β Jean, if Madeline remembered correctly. Which she was pretty sure she did, as sheβd spent a lot of the set watching Jean. The woman was exactly the type Madeline liked most β sporting wide hips, generous cleavage, long dark brown hair done up in a braid, and sparkling blue eyes. Sheβd handled her guitar like sheβd been born with it in her hand, rocking in perfect beat with her bandmates and shooting the audience wide, come-hither grins every so often when the music allowed. Just the memory of that smile gave Madeline the shivers β
And now, she was almost within touching distance of the woman. Madeline stared at her, frozen. Holy shit, I didnβt realize...I mean, I guess it makes sense, singing like that is probably thirsty work, but...is it okay if I just β go up to her? I dunno if sheβs cool with fans meeting her outside of sets or not...especially fans who might get a little...n-not that Iβm gonna do anything but say I liked her music, but she is really fucking gorgeous and Iβm on a dry spell and β
βAnd anyone who said your fatherβs influence in you is lacking should see you now.β
Cheshire appeared by her feet, winding around her ankles. βYou seem stuck fast to the ground,β he observed with his trademark grin. βPurrhaps I should try to claw your feet up?β
βLoathe as I am to agree with that disrespectful creature, you should get moving,β the Queen of Hearts added, draping a tentacle over Madelineβs shoulders. βYou are no mere pawn on the board β you are an ace in the pack. And you should act like it.β
Both of you be quiet before I start talking to you aloud! Madeline hissed, then bit her lip as she looked back at Jean. They did have a point β she was getting nowhere just standing there. In fact, she was probably starting to look a little bit creepy. And she did want to at least say βhi.β And tell her how awesome her band was. And if anything else happened...well, it happened. Madeline sucked in a steadying breath, then pried her feet off the floor and made her way over to the stool, trying to exude confidence. βHi.β
Jean looked over. βHi!β she said, all friendliness β that was one worry dispelled, at least. βAssuming you saw the show.β
βYeah β you guys were amazing,β Madeline told her, smiling. βBest band Iβve heard in ages, trust me.β She offered a hand. βMadeline Van Dort.β
Jean took it, shooting her another dazzling smile. βJean Carpenter. Pleasure to meet you.β
Madeline swallowed as their hands touched. Oh boy. Yup. Major crush. After one night. Gonna be hearing about this in Wonderland for months...worth it. βPleasure is all mine.β
madeline nods thoughtfully as he explains that , no , he's not here for unfinished business , but rather just because he can . clarence goes on to apologize to her for frightening her , but she shakes her head . " it's alright . if anything , i should be apologizing to you . my dad -- "
she's interrupted by clarence's utter shock by her request . she does have to admit , her sudden want to meet more corpses -- undead ? she's not sure what the polite term is . . . -- right after screaming in terror is quite a whiplash . but , she's got to trust her father on this one . plus , this could end in her finally meeting half of her family . to finally put real faces to the names , and not just from a photograph .
she takes a deep breath , and begins to explain . " yeah , being jumpscared by someone no longer living is quite the shock , so you'll have to excuse me for running in terror . but the reason i want to go with you , and why i know a bit about the magic that got you here , is because my father once traversed the land of the dead .
" he kind of , sort of , accidentally married a dead bride . i-it's a long long story , but if you made your way up here , surely you can take me down with you ? i have family downstairs that i want to see . family that mean a great deal to me . could you do that ? " and here she is , putting on the most irresistible pout with puppy dog eyes she can muster . a face that not even her own mother can say no to (sometimes) .
Clarence raises an eyebrow (or what he has left of one) at her protest that magic is not real -- but then she stops, takes a moment to consider things, and then admits that he's got her there and finally puts the knife away. He relaxes, letting his hands drop. Good, now they can try having a civil conversation. "No unfinished business -- unless continuing my magical training counts," he amends, looking thoughtful. "Which I guess it does...anyway, my only purpose in coming up here was to see if I could! The spell I used can be a bit tricky to pull off, and I wasn't sure if it would work -- but apparently it did!" He grins, then rubs the back of his head. "I -- really did not mean to scare you. I wasn't thinking about popping up in front of living visitors to the cemetery." Which he probably should have, but he was just so excited about getting to try out the spell at last...
And then -- he blinks rapidly as she suddenly hits him not only with the name of the spell he just used (which -- how does she know that?), but also a request to come Downstairs. "You were -- just running screaming from me," he has to point out. "And suddenly you want to go to the Land of the Dead and talk to more dead people? Why? And how does your dad know about the Ukrainian Haunting Spell? I'd ask if he's magically-inclined too, but if that was the case I would think you'd have taken my appearance better. Like, maybe not perfectly calmly, but not shrieking like a banshee."