Whisper the prayer of transformation.

[digophelia]

A- Returning to London , the tub

She waited with both great apprehension and joy for her release out of the hospital. Ten years and Alice was already making a list of the things she'd go see. She wanted to see the parks she used to play in, the old ports she would visit, and Hyde Park was on the top of her list. She was practically shaking with excitement when she was waiting patiently for her release. The doctors had given her a slew of medication -- not a surprise. Anti-psychotics, benzodiazepines, SSRIs, and some to help her sleep at night. All of them with a big, bulky folder of directions, phone numbers, and other sort of paperwork with names and such. When she first entered care, she barely spoke a word, and now that she was being let go, Alice barely spoke a word, again. No goodbyes offered, even if nurses, patients, and doctors tried with her, Alice tore out of the hospital without a second look.

She was free again.


Hyde Park was quite a distance away -- she'd have to take public transportation to get there. And, of course, to get a cup of tea on the way there, since her medication often made her feel sluggish. As soon as Alice is out in the real world again, her reaction isn't that of joy and there is no running about. The world is much bigger than she remembered and much more frightening. Alice had left it, deeply shaken. She couldn't really greet anyone on the way back to the subway or anywhere else. She kept her head low, awkwardly rubbing her cheek or combing her hair, all odd little tidbits of hers when she was nervous.

She was terrified. Alice thought to herself what she could possibly be thinking. Upon getting on the old routes her family used to take to the coven (which, by now, Alice had memorized), she took it up to the assigned housing, with only a bag of clothing and her things, nervously teetering away on the train, with her old stuffed rabbit firmly in her arms. Alice was eighteen years old, but her skittish disposition and short, malnourished stature surely presented her as someone much younger and the stuffed rabbit didn't help. She looks like a child and acts the part, ducking her head as people passed by her. While the idea of looking at others filled her with dread, her mind was racing with thoughts and visions.

Today could be an off day.

B - Redbright Institute, because Alice is lost

Two days after her initial release, Alice secluded herself to sleeping in a bed of her own, with no round the clock check ups from doctors. She slept tightly with her rabbit -- but decided that the bed wasn't enough halfway through the night and took to under the bed. When she awoke, Alice was combing through notes and drawings -- clues to her past and where to go. She was obsessed with remembering these things, the jittery little thing kept them in a notebook, pieces of papers popping out of pages. Redbright Institute. Now she remembered, that was one place her father worked at, one place she knew would give her clues to where to go and what to do.

The world was still very much bigger than she thought, so stepping upon the campus isn't what she expected. It was bigger than she remembered and very foreign. And Alice spent a good time pacing about outside, carrying her rabbit firmly in her arms until she worked up the courage to speak.

Sort of.

She probably hadn't spoken a full sentence in months, so her matter of speech was strange, almost monotone and low. Sucking in a breath, the small, Alice tried to ask for help and where to go -- no one helped her, she jumped into this without thinking.

"Sorry," She mutters, keeping her head low and her rabbit close to her chest. She wasn't this meek, she nearly forgot how to interact with others. "I'm lost? Help?"

If that even worked, if she could formulate a sentence, but talking to others again was so difficult.

C - Coffer's Shop

It is not a coffee shop she's familiar with; her father had a penchant for the fancy coffee shops, in which he met some of his colleagues there, or, according to her older sister, he goofed off at them, playing chess with others. Tea sounds nice -- it sounds great. Upon entering the shop, Alice takes a sigh of relief that it's not busy. Still clutching her rabbit in one hand, Alice fumbles with her side bag, feeling around for the coin purse -- she stuck some money in there, she's not sure how much.

What she does remember is the smaller pleasures helped a lot, but ordering tea was proving to be a difficult feat, especially for a girl who was struggling just to talk to others. One step, just one step that was recommended in therapy to deal with social anxiety. She watches how others order and what they do, standing at the counter before she steps up bravely and orders tea.

Just plain chamomile, since anything caffeinated will rile her. As soon as she gets it, Alice nearly runs over a patron, whisking herself to a nice, quiet corner.

"Sorry," She mutters lowly, keeping her rabbit and cup of tea gripped tightly in her hands before she continues.

D - Wildcard!

Comments

B

[livelongenough]

She looks so young. It's the first thought that Henry has when he really sees her. He might have walked right past her if she hadn't spoken, but, now, she has his full attention. He offers a faint smile. Even as he does, he corrects his initial perception. She doesn't necessarily look young; she seems young.

"Where are you trying to go?" he asks.

A calm, practised voice. Father and doctor speaking at once. After all, an anxious tone could spread. Make someone far more nervous than they had to be.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Don't worry about it," said Heiji cheerily, pulling his drink out of the way so it wouldn't get smashed or worse. The sudden motion sloshed a few drops out of the lid despite his efforts.

Man, that was one beat-up rabbit.

"Crowd's died down a little here lately, but it's still tough to find a seat!"

C

[knightscode]

"Not at all -- here, do you need help?"

Lancelot holds out a hand to her, smile easy and calm as he regards Alice. His other one is only holding a pre-packaged sandwich, so it's no trouble. She's so tensely drawn in on herself he wonders if the concept will upset her more, so he clarifies quietly --

"I can hold the tea for you so you can keep hold of your friend, save someone bumping you and spilling it onto them. I'm a little bigger and harder for people to knock over. Corner seat?"

C

[constantprisoner]

Coffeer's shop is probably one of the few locations Sirius feels safe enough to visit, thanks to Clara's advice. He tends to keep his face hidden, but has become familiar enough that he can at least get a pastry and some tea to go without raising too much suspicion.

Granted that never lasts long for him. One of the issues with keeping your head down is that you don't really pay attention to your surroundings. Or other people running into you.

"My fault," he replies quickly, "You okay?"

D - i can cook something else up if this doesn't work!

[kleptofaeniac]

It had spread throughout Circle Midnight quickly enough that Enfield was a safe-haven now. If you wanted to live without worrying about being attacked or run out of town because someone found out you practiced dark magic, that was the place to be.

On top of that, the coven that had won the territory - Shadow Coven - had a halfway house for witches who would evacuate to the area. There were rooms to stay in long enough to get on your feet, and even some work to be found if you didn't mind exploiting your gifts long enough to give someone a little charm or reading for a few pounds.

Fronting as a psychic and magic shop was a little on the nose, true; but it was almost stupid enough to be clever...

Kenzi was managing the front today - she had decided to take a break from her usual work to brush up on her defensive magics. She was teaching herself how to make barriers for homes and such - after just recently being broken into, she wanted some safety she could trust.

A

[emotioneater]

"Need a spot t' siddown?" Cooper asks. The train is unusually packed at this time of night and Alice looks quite in danger of being swallowed up amidst the crowd. Cooper was lucky enough to get a seat, but he's certainly not going to keep in with the waif standing before him with a stuffed bunny rabbit (creepy as it is) in her arms. She looks like she's about fourteen years old at most.