InsaneJournal

Oh, but I am mad. I just admit to it.
Who: Sada and Alice.
What: Tea!
When: Tuesday afternoon.
Where: Teashop that Alice likes.
Rating: PG-13 for language.
Status: Complete!



Teatime was a wonderful time, and Alice usually looked forward to it, even if the tea wasn’t home made, but at a teashop. As long as it was a proper sort of teashop, of which there were several varieties. Alice had visited Japanese and Chinese teahouses, as well as a British style tea shop, and had enjoyed them all.

Sada seemed interesting, and she enjoyed tea, and so those were enough reasons for her to meet just about anyone. She even opted to leave the Vorpal Blade at home, and dressed in a nice blue winter dress. Dinah, of course, came as part of the ensemble.

Sada showed up in a white dress, light and better suited for spring. She still wasn’t used to the warmer weather, so she was able to not wear stockings or a coat. Her feet were in flats and her hair was loose. She smiled when she saw the girl she hoped would be a new friend and she waved happily.

It was still cold by Alice's standard. She smiled back when she saw Sado and walked over. The dark cat on her shoulder lifted her head and gave Sado an eye, before lazily lowering it again. That meant she approved, usually.

Alice held out her hand to the woman in white, who looked rather radiant in Wonderland-vision. "Hullo , love!"

“Hello, you must be Alice.” She smiled and bowed a bit out of habit before taking the other girl’s hand. “I’m Sadako. But we are going to be good friends, please call me Sada.” She smiled broadly, looking at the cat. “Hello, pretty one. May I pet you?”

Dinah mewled, lifting her head again and then tilting it, as though beckoning her hand closer for pets. Alice's smile widened as she shook Sadako's hand. "Good friends, you think?"

“I think so!” She scritched Dinah’s ears, moving to the back of her neck. “We have things in common, I think.”

"Tea." Alice held her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels as Dinah purred happily. The cat waggled her bum and then leaped into Sada's arms.

“And kitties.” Sada laughed, holding Dinah close as Sada held her and scritched the back of her neck while showering her with kisses. “Have you had Dinah long?”

"Since January. She was given to me when I moved to the States." Alice seemed a little embarrassed. She'd spent her entire childhood growing up in an asylum. "They thought she'd help me adjust."

“I think she’d help anyone,” Sada cooed, rocking the kitten gently and smiling at her new friend. Alice seemed really sweet, and Sada felt at ease around her immediately.

Sada hadn't asked why she'd needed to adjust. Alice generally didn't shy away from volunteering the information, but she appreciated that. She headed towards the table, letting Sada carry Dinah, and took a seat. "She doesn't much like to be separated from me. I don't really mind, I don't like to be separated from her!"

“You two have really bonded. I know people say that animals find who they need to be with, and vice versa.” Sada moved to sit across from her new friend, smiling brightly. “I’m just glad that there’s other people here who aren’t from the US. We can all feel awkward together.”

Alice chuckled, watching Sada sit. She had to blink her eyes several times to dispel the picture of butterfly wings, and gradually the surrounding room and buildings outside stopped looking so much like mushrooms and giant flowers. Perhaps tea and conversation would help. "I think she's fallen in love with you, the silly pussy."

“Cats fall in love with everyone who knows how to pet them.” She smiled and giggled girlishly when the cat perched on her shoulder like a pirate’s parrot. “What sort of tea are you getting?”

"I was hoping you'd have a suggestion. I really should branch out into different teas," Alice replied. leaning back in her chair with all the air of a lazy queen.

Sada looked at the menu, smiling when she saw there was a nice raspberry oolong. “You could get that, it seems like it would be nice for the afternoon.”

"I will." She said, ordering that oolong and shifting around a bit. Her green eyes were alight with curiosity. "I googled you. Your movies are fascinating. I didn't expect you to be so cheerful in person!"

“I’m on Google here?” Sada’s eyes went wide with amusement. “I guess that stands to reason. And you expected me to be scary because I’m in scary movies.” She chuckled, hiding her hand behind her mouth politely. “Most people do.”

"Well I got a lot of Japanese links and interesting pictures too. I just typed your name from your profile into google." Alice nodded her head. "You certainly can have a scary look about you sometimes, but you're much more pleasant. Dinah and I approve. Especially because some of your movies are better than the trash yanks produce."

She made a face, which about summed up her opinion of most American movies.

“Oh, don’t say that, I’m trying to be in the terrible Yank movies! Though I’m fairly sure I’ll just get cast in the remakes of the movies I’ve already been in.” Sada couldn’t help but laugh, amused when Dinah started purring contentedly. “We should get her a little saucer of cream.”

"Brilliant!" Alice ordered some cream for Dinah in addition to her tea, then leaned on her elbows and rested her chin on her hands, smiling cheerfully. Sada was rubbing off on her. Alice was rarely in this good a mood, and she intended to take advantage of it. "You should thank the nice lady, Dinah."

The kitten mewled.

“You’re welcome, you adorable little thing.” Sada kissed the kitten on the tip of its nose. She rarely felt this happy either, usually feeling disgruntled or abandoned or upset. But she liked that Alice seemed a kindred spirit; they were just cosy together.

When the tea arrived, Alice picked up a saucer and poured some cream. She placed that at an empty chair at the table, and Dinah hopped off of Sada and down to the chair. She put her front paws on the table and lapped at the cream.

As for Alice, she was taking a whiff of the tea and smiling pleasantly.

Sada was charmed by the kitten, smiling brightly at her for a moment before picking up the mug of tea with both hands and inhaling deeply. “Mmm, this smells lovely.” She sipped daintily and smiled to herself.

"It's got a rather delightful smell to it." She picked up her tea and sipped at it. Though she still leaned forward, she had a refined air to how she drank her tea, as though she'd stepped straight out of Victorian London.

“Oolong’s my favorite,” Sada smiled. “The one thing I miss about home is the vending machines.” She’d loved the ability to get tea from vending machines whenever she wanted. That would be hard to let go of.

"Vending machines? Tea vending machines?!" Alice didn't know if she should be offended or intrigued! Perhaps both. She furrowed her brow. "Obviously, I came to the wrong bloody country. Tea. From vending machines!"

“They have coffee too.” She grinned broadly, swinging her legs under the table. “There’s cans of coffee with milk and bottles of oolong tea. You’d like it very much.” She wouldn’t mind too much if the vending machines would come with her. Maybe she could import one.

"Well blast! I need to schedule a trip." She could afford it. She didn't do much else with her money. Alice found herself bouncing a little in her chair as she sipped at her tea. "Do you always want to do movies?"

“I’ve always wanted to act. But I want to do more serious movies, I think.” She smiled and nodded. “If you take a trip, I’ll come with you!”

"We'll have to do something, then! Maybe in time for those pretty cherry blossoms?" She tilted her head, reaching over to stroke Dinah's ears with one hand, and asked, "What sort of serious would you like to do?"

“Sakura season would be in a few months, yes.” She grinned broadly, then thought a little to herself. “I don’t know, just something where I don’t have to pretend to be scared all the time.” She made a terrified face for a moment before giggling and stopping.

"You're just a delight, Sada, yoy know that? Maybe you should be the slasher? A bubbly school girl groped one too many times on the underground."

“You know, I suggested that to my manager once, but I don’t think it went very far.” She sighed, moving to take her napkin so she could dab lightly at Dinah’s milk-covered chin.

"Make your own movie," Alice said, matter-of-factly. "It doesn't have to have a huge budget. I'm not sure you could pull off a psychotic break, though." She sipped at her tea, thinking. Brainstorming, really. "Some really good movies can be made on a few thousands dollars, and perhaps it could stand on acting and creative shots rather than blowing the budget on blood and special effects. I have really disturbing dreams, you see..."

“I’m sure I could too. What are your dreams like.” Sada smiled, leaning forward so she wouldn’t miss the girl talking.

"A little bit fantastic, and a little bit terrifying, really." She put the tea cup down, so it wouldn't betray her if she started to shake. "I dream of a wonderful place, full of mystery and strange, fantastic things. Then it all goes bad. I dreamed my family was killed in a fire, which was all wrong as we were assaulted and they were murdered in our own home. But this wonderful land became...terrible. Dark and twisted and sad. Like I'm viewing it through a shattered mirror. And I'm the only one who can save it! I fight the evil queen and rid it of it's corruption. Only..."

Alice trailed off, and was silent for a long moment, then continued. "Only it wasn't gone. My memories were twisted and used against me by a very bad doctor. I eventually shoved him in front of a moving train, which was ironic, as it was a demon train that was destroying my land."

She looked up at Sada, and said a little sadly. "I dreamed of what happens to Wonderland when great trauma twists your mind."


“You dream you’re … you’re Alice?” Sada cocked her head to the side. She looked so upset by her dreams. Sada bit her lower lip. “That sounds like a terrible thing to dream, you shouldn’t have to go through that too often.”

Alice smiled, "I got better. Don't fret your pretty head about it. I had just thought that horror doesn't have to follow the usual way of things." There had to be a better example, and then she thought of it. "Actually, did you ever see Black Swan?"

“I did! I really wish I’d been able to audition for that because I dance too.” Sada pouted. “I’m just glad I’m fluent, it’ll help a lot with auditions.” At least she hoped so! “How am I doing?”

"Doing? Your English is perfect and you're bloody adorable. You're giving me cavities." Alice's mood seemed to have shifted again. "You'd make a beautiful butterfly."

“You think? I always wanted to be a cat.” She scritched Dinah, smiling and biting her lower lip. “Cats are so graceful and so smart. And so independent!”

"They are." Alice looked at Dinah fondly. "Nearly perfect creatures. It's a shame that they know that. It all goes to their heads."

The cat looked like she was in heaven, purring up a storm and trying to get Sada to pet her just right.

“Oh, it’s why the Egyptians thought they were gods. Because they were smart. They are, aren’t they?” Sada grinned at Dinah, leaning down to kiss her. “What do you do with your days, Alice?”

Alice watched her chew her lip and kiss her cat. An interesting joke about lickin pussy ran through her head. "Read, and drink tea. I travel around a lot as well. I like to take the bus and go places I've never been, meet people I've never met."

“That’s probably what I’d do if I didn’t have to earn a living. What do you do for funds? Do you like the people you meet? Or do you just find them interesting?” Sada didn’t like a lot of people, but she liked a lot of people too. It was her luck that there were millions upon billions of them on the planet.

"I have a trust fund, so I don't really hurt for money. I live in a rather cheap flat, too. I haven't had much cause or motivation to move yet, despite the prostitutes across the street." Alice laughed lightly. "I find most of them interesting, I like some, and dislike others. I once got to stab a man, even!"

“That must have been exciting,” Sada laughed. “I’ve only ever gotten to pretend to do things like that. And not working must give you lots of time for hobbies and the like.” Sada would have been an actress even if she didn’t have to work for money.

"Well he was trying to hurt a girl, and the Dinah got in another man's face and it was rather hilarious after the fact." Except that Scotty had been allergic to cats, which was..okay it was still hilarious. Alice nodded her head. "I wish I had more to do. I'd like to contribute, and I've been considering going to university, but with my history I'm not sure I'd be accepted."

“Oh, universities here will take quite a bit of different people.” Sada smiled broadly, squeezing Alice’s hand. “I think you’ll be all right.”

"Even one who grew up in the nuthouse?" Alice tilted her head, looking at Sada earnestly. "I think they only released me because they didn't want to pay for me anymore."

“You don’t seem mad to me,” Sada shrugged. “As long as you got good grades, I don’t see why it’s any of their business where you grew up.”

"Oh, but I am mad. I just admit to it." Alice flashed Sada a grin, her hair falling into her face.