#~T: Forgotten Vows Adelaide

[thevalicemultiverse]

“I -- don’t think you did tell me that, no,” Alice says, genuinely shocked that Bumby wouldn’t tell his own daughter that she survived. Why didn’t he? Did he not know himself -- no, that can’t be it, her survival and subsequent madness was in the papers, she knows that much. . . It’s a mystery, and one she’s not sure how to solve.

But then Adelaide starts talking about Victor and -- “What the hell are you talking about?” Alice asks, putting her hands on her hips. “Chasing? I haven’t done any chasing, I’ve simply made a friend. Who can’t help his family background, and whose wealth isn’t exactly benefiting him at the moment. And so what if he wants to get out of here -- he’s not exactly enjoying his time being told to forget what I feel is a relatively harmless delusion.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t care about his money -- and I don’t care about yours either. And he’s hardly a stranger at this point -- he’s been here a good few months! And has he really? All right, fine, he doesn’t get along well with your father, but other than that. . .” She sighs. “Adelaide, he’s a nice person if you’d just get to know him. And like I said, there’s no ‘chasing’ going on. I’m in no good place to ‘chase’ anyone.”

@thevalicemultiverse

continued from here

adelaide sighs , eyes filled with tears . she quickly wipes them away , before continuing on . " alice , i love you . i've loved you ever since you came back into my life . i don't know if i told you this , but father did not tell me you survived the fire until he notified me of your arrival here at houndsditch . so when i saw you again , for the first time , i felt genuine joy . "

she narrows her eyes , anger filling her heart . " but no . instead of seeing what's right in front of you , you'd prefer to chase after a man , a wealthy man at that , that wants nothing more than to be rid of this place . "

addie takes a breath , steadying herself . " what is it that he has that i don't have , alice ? money ? i'm getting everything from my father when he passes , it's been in his will since i can remember . i can take you away from here , just like he can . the only difference is you know me . you don't know this man , this stranger . ever since he's been here , he's done nothing but cause trouble ! "

[thevalicemultiverse]

Alice stares at her. “I -- what? Last I checked, we were just dancing together.” Though...Victor had been leaning in very close near the end there... But no, she knows he’d never be interested in her romantically. And besides, even if he was leaning in for that purpose, that meant he was trying to kiss her, not the other way around. A small but crucial difference. “Whatever you saw, it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“I know he’s only trying to help, but -- really, Victor’s said multiple times that if everyone else would let it go, he’d stop talking about it,” Alice replies, digging her fingers into her hips. “I don’t think he particularly cares about returning to his hometown either at this point -- he certainly doesn’t speak of it in flattering terms.” She sighs, trying to find a more diplomatic way to navigate this argument. “I mean -- it’s just possible that he and Bumby aren’t a good fit when it comes to therapist and patient, right? That can happen? It doesn’t mean either of them are wrong, just -- maybe Victor needs a different doctor?”

Alice is about to say something about what she does care about -- namely, conquering her demons and hallucinations -- but then Adelaide is literally on her knees in front of her, grabbing her hand and going on about how she loves her and how she tried so many times to make it obvious but Alice won't listen to her, and -- and it's all a bit much to process. "I -- I'm -- look, I'm sorry if I've made this hard on you," she gets out after a moment. "I'm not exactly good at picking up hints, as you must well know."

"You do tend to have a more direct manner of dealing with things," Cheshire adds from the vicinity of her feet.

Shush! "Point is, yes, I hear you love me. But in my current state, that's a lot to take in. And I don't think I'd make much of a partner at all, given what my brain is like these days."

“I -- don’t think you did tell me that, no,” Alice says, genuinely shocked that Bumby wouldn’t tell his own daughter that she survived. Why didn’t he? Did he not know himself -- no, that can’t be it, her survival and subsequent madness was in the papers, she knows that much. . . It’s a mystery, and one she’s not sure how to solve.

But then Adelaide starts talking about Victor and -- “What the hell are you talking about?” Alice asks, putting her hands on her hips. “Chasing? I haven’t done any chasing, I’ve simply made a friend. Who can’t help his family background, and whose wealth isn’t exactly benefiting him at the moment. And so what if he wants to get out of here -- he’s not exactly enjoying his time being told to forget what I feel is a relatively harmless delusion.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t care about his money -- and I don’t care about yours either. And he’s hardly a stranger at this point -- he’s been here a good few months! And has he really? All right, fine, he doesn’t get along well with your father, but other than that. . .” She sighs. “Adelaide, he’s a nice person if you’d just get to know him. And like I said, there’s no ‘chasing’ going on. I’m in no good place to ‘chase’ anyone.”