[Plot] The Wonderland Complex

[Alice]

"Well first of all, I said for you to try to hit me. I never said you'd manage to." Alice said with an air of smug confidence. "Second, my size is one of my advantages on you. You are stronger and have more reach, but you have to aim down. I'm faster and nimble. But, if it would really make you feel better...." The girl stretched her arms out as though she had just woken up from a nap, reaching up, and up, and up. Before Cheshire really has a chance to process what was happening he's eye-to-eye with the girl, and getting a better idea of her reasoning for her choice in attire. That loose shirt wasn't quite so loose anymore, and it was definitely fortunate that the leggings were stretchy. She placed a hand just above her head and then waved it over his, finding that she was just an inch or more taller than him.

"Mmm, close enough. How about now? Is that enough?"

[Basil Benson]

"... I guess..." He replied, still looking hesitant.

"How much of that can you do?" He asked, changing the subject.

[Alice]

"Oh, a lot more. And I go both ways." Alice said with just a hint of smugness. "But her Majesty doesn't like it when I go too far. Too big and there's the risk of collateral damage. Too small, and I'm harder to keep track of." She leaned forward a bit, her hands on her hips. "You want more, don't you?"

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire chuckled ruefully.

"I don't think there has ever been a young man that said no to that question in the history of said question, Ms.Alice."

[Alice]

Alice gave Cheshire a poke to his chest, a hard one.

"Then earn it. Knock me on my ass, and I'll have a reason to show you a little more of what I can do."

[Basil Benson]

He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine. But if your nose isn't pretty anymore it's not my fault."

[Alice]

"Worry about your own, pretty boy." Alice said as she stepped back and shook out her arms as she got into position.

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire shut his mouth, and squared off again, then began circling and taking careful footwork towards Alice.

[Alice]

Alice, for her part, remained where she was and didn't turn to face Basil as he circled her. Though it was pretty obvious that she was keeping her eye on him.

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire could tell he was being forced to come at her, so eventually after a few circles, he swung on her.

[Alice]

What happened next was, well, a bit of a blur. Before Cheshire really knew what was happening there was a slap to his arm as Alice turned on his side and had her hand to his face. It wasn't a punch, it wasn't even a slap, it was almost like how someone would push away a cat or dog. The pain from his nose was incredible, his head instinctively recoiling, which made it easier for her to pull him down to the floor. Funnily enough, even as he was being thrown to the floor, she was taking great care to cradle his head.

Once he was on the floor, Alice let go. And as soon as she did the pain to his nose disappeared. A quick check by him would reveal no blood or signs of it being broken.

"You good?"

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire hit the floor so quickly, he wasn't sure what had happened.

He was sure of one thing though, and what he was sure of what written all over his face in a silly sort of a grin.

"Yes. Fantastic." He replied. He didn't seem concerned, but also, he didn't feel anything warm or wet all over his nose so that kept the panic down to a minimum. "I'd make a joke about having to pay for this sort of treatment, but I don't have anything to pay you for kicking my ass." He replied with his face against the floor before peeling himself off of it.

[Alice]

Alice let out a little huff, but couldn't hide her grin. At least he wasn't getting all pissy about "getting beat by a girl" like some guys were. "Getting your ass kicked is the first step in learning how to kick ass. So now here's the question; do you wanna learn what the heck that was, and how to do it yourself?"

[Basil Benson]

"Have I a choice?" He offered back, his expression distant.

[Alice]

Alice crossed her legs as she sat down on the mats. "If you want to go on this errand and get to see outside again, then no. But... like, what else are ya gonna do to pass the time?" She reached out and put her hand on Basil's shoulder.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think you had it in you. Plus, I like hangin' out with you. If we need the excuse of throwing each other on the floor to do it, I'll take it."

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire smirked.

"You don't have to make an excuse to lay me out on the floor you know. I'm good at taking directions."

[Alice]

Alice gave Cheshire a very grumpy look before she snorted and broke down, unable to hide her smile and shaking her head.

"Wow, you never give up, do you?"

[Basil Benson]

"I will if you want me to.

Do you?"

[Alice]

Alice looked up at Cheshire slowly, still smiling.

"No, I don't think I do."

[Basil Benson]

"That's what I thought." He replied in a cheeky manner.

"To work then."

[Alice]

"Tally ho." Alice used Cheshire's shoulder as leverage to push herself back onto her feet, looking down at him and offering him her hand. "By the time we're done today, I'm gonna have you doin' the very basics of krav maga. Kinda appropriate really, Israeli and all."

[Basil Benson]

Israeli. The word stuck with him, his brain chewing on it causes him to pause, cross his arms over his chest, and rub and tap his fingers on his clavicle.

Cheshire hadn't given any thought as to who he might be, though the idea he might be 'foreign' from the rest of the group like Alice did make sense. He knew other languages besides English. French and Hebrew... and one other his addled brain had yet to label but he knew was some kind of subsidiary language to Hebrew that he didn't dare to speak aloud to others, though he couldn't pinpoint why.

Cheshire just stood there with a distant, worried expression as he chewed on his lip.

[Alice]

Alice, of course, hadn't intended to trigger such deep reflections. She just thought it was an interesting coincidence that she was teaching Israeli martial arts techniques to a Jewish boy, just one of those slightly interesting coincidences that happen in life.

"If I could get your body to work half as hard as your brain does, you'd be more ripped than Arnold."

[Basil Benson]

"It does, just not for these sorts of activities." He replied. Somehow he was capable of flirting even when he'd buried himself in his deeper, less instinct driven thoughts.

He began moving again, and took his stance again.

"But let's begin again, since you're so eager to flatten me out some more." He replied, smirking at her past his ruffled hair poof.

[Alice]

Alice rolled her eyes again. "That kinda talk isn't gonna help you in the field." She said, though she was unable to hide her smirk at his confidence. She took her position as well, and started explaining the basics of her craft, going through the motions of how people would likely come at him, and how to counter them. The pair went over the movements over and over again, slowly at first but faster each subsequent time, until they started to become second nature.

After a couple of hours, and a few short breaks, Alice found herself trapped in Cheshire's chokehold. "G-good! You got this!"

[Basil Benson]

"Iiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee-fuuuccckkinng--haaayyyttteee---thiissssss!" He whined, but after a moment he flipped her body over his shoulder and dropped her to the floor, then disengaged quickly.

[Alice]

Alice hit the mat with a heavy thud, letting out a bit of a groan before she rolled onto her feet. She was sweaty and panting, and she really shouldn't be smiling, but she had a little open-mouth grin as she gave Basil a thumbs up.

"Hanh... alright. I think - that's enough - for today." She reached up toward him with her hand outstretched, fishing for some help getting up.

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire's hand was immediate, as if he was already intending to help.

"Are you alright?" Was the first phrase out of his mouth.

[Alice]

Alice took Cheshire's hand and pulled herself to her feet with a groan. "Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix. And I'm certainly no worse off than you are." She rolled her other shoulder a bit before she straightened up more, back to her normal petite stature. "But that's why I'm pushing you so hard on this. If you learn to do this right, you can take people out without actually harming them. Can't say that about a punch in the mouth now, can you?"

[Basil Benson]

"Yes ma'am." He replied, never one to argue with a lady. Especially not a high ranking one than he.

He ran his hand across the back of his neck, fanny out his curls in an attempt to cool off a little. He hated how exercise made one's skin feel.

[Alice]

Alice grinned a little bit. "Alright old chum, I think it's about time we hit the showers. You look like you could use a cooldown."

[Basil Benson]

"Exercise does not agree with my delicate constitution." He replied, in a southern American accent that was very much not his own. He held out his hands in an 'after you're sort of motion, intending to let the lady go first.

[Alice]

Whether Alice got Cheshire's reference or not was anyone's guess, as she just shook her head at him before turning and heading for the showers. Though she did glance over her shoulder to make sure he was coming as well.

[Basil Benson]

He was following along, still off in his own head and not really paying attention to where they were going exactly. He had an idea, but didn't feel he needed to pay enough attention to actually lead them. Alice knew where they were going.

[Alice]

The gym didn't have it's own locker rooms, so Alice instead led the boy out of the gym and through the complex to the facility's shower rooms. The "public" showers were separated between males and females, and that was about all of the privacy that anyone got in this place, as even the showers themselves were without stalls. Uncharacteristic of what one might think of public showers, each side did have it's own soaking tub for people to sit in, which made it a bit unusual. Or perhaps unusual if they were in a country where soaking tubs weren't a norm - there really was no way for them to know where they were. But what they did know was that, at this time of day, they should be deserted.

"I'm not going to lie, I think this is one shower I might actually enjoy." Alice said as she reached the door to the women's showers.

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire appraised the situation silently for a moment, then smirked, and moved towards the mens showers.

"I as well.

Enjoy, Ms.Alice." He added.

---------------------------------------------

The days passed between Cheshire and Alice training. Hatter was intended to help, but after an incident which landed Cheshire on temporary bed-rest after where Cheshire landing blows upon her provoked her other personality out, she was relieved from the duty of helping Alice.

Every day the pattern remained the same. Breakfast, train, shower, lunch, leisure (whatever the hell that amounted to in this place), dinner, then bed. It got so that outside of meal time, each other might be the only people that they interacted with that day. Cheshire was always flirty, though managed to maintain propriety with Alice. The last thing he wanted was one of the handful of people he knew mad at him, especially the one that seemed to have most of their marbles in the same bag. he was being patient, bidding his time... Allowing the seeds he was planting to come to bloom, presuming they were meant to.

And as had become the pattern, the pair trudged off towards the showers after another morning of training, wth Cheshire following behind, playing with his hair grumpily. It was getting so long. Longer than he'd ever known it to be. But then again, he couldn't remember much before the facility, so perhaps he literally couldn't remember it being long.

[Alice]

Having someone else to spar and exercise with was a welcome change for Alice - not that there was any shortage of potential workout partners, but she didn't find the general population to be very stimulation; intellectually or otherwise. Cheshire provided her with a project, one that she was growing more and more satisfied with the results. With the proper incentive, he could commit himself to it. And once he started to improve, it was easier to incentivize him. It certainly helped to have someone to talk to with similar interests, even if their memories of said interests were fragmented and scattered. It really did help to pass the time, and though it was perhaps a little vain of her, she enjoyed being on the receiving end of the young man's flirtations. So much so that, on that particular occasion, she said something in passing as they reached the showers. Something she wouldn't have had the nerve to say in the weeks prior.

"You know, with your abilities you could slip into the women's showers and I wouldn't be any the wiser. Unless you said something." Her tone wasn't an accusatory one more a touch... flirtatious? She gave the boy a side-eyed glance before she pushed the door open and stepped inside, leaving him to his own shower and to consider what she'd said.

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire didn't immediately follow her. but eventually, she would hear music coming from an unknown source. It was moving towards her, before it materialized before her: One of Cheshire's only personal effects, a shower speaker he'd been given for being a very good boy.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, close enough now that she could see the water bounding off the void that was his body.

[Alice]

Alice had, through their time working together, become a good judge of Cheshire's character. She knew that he wasn't the kind of guy to play the unseen voyeur role, even if it seemed that was the hand life had dealt him. So when she noticed the music she couldn't help but smile just a bit. The young man who could have easily gone completely unnoticed, and she'd have never truly known if he was ever there or not, was announcing his presence.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have said anything, would I?" Alice answered by way of a question as she continued to soap up her body. "For better or for worse, I trust you more than I do everyone else in this entire place combined."

[Basil Benson]

Cheshire became visible, and closed the gap between the two of them, looming over her as he pressed her gently against the wall. He had his lips at her ear now. If anyone were to peer in and check on them, they would look 'busy' from the point of entry, but if anyone else came too far into the room they'd be able to tell there was still 'plenty of room for Jesus' between them from the torso down.

"You shouldn't. I've been using you Alice. Leading you on to get what I want..." He stated fairly clearly as his hand came up to cradle her by the neck, his elbow somewhat awkwardly pressed into her chest. Once he had her craded just where he wanted her, he pressed his face firmly into her ear, his hair falling to obscure his face and what exactly he was doing. He used his other hand to turn up his music to drown out any further sounds they might make.

But what passed his lips next weren't the sweet nothings Alice was probably hoping for.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here. For good. I need a partner, and you're the only one who seems to want to try.

If you're in, give me a signal that doesn't seem out of place right now. If you're out, you can shove me off of you like I'm a disgusting creep. It won't arouse suspicion, as it's a valid assessment."