Madness {Ouat}

Reunion

 
Cheshire looked tentatively at the sign plastered on the side of a building. 'The Mushroom Cap: Hookah Lounge'  She let her arms fall from their crossed position and headed for the door. She tried to avoid eye contact with a rather large man in black that stood at the entrance.
   "Hey!" He put out his arm to stop her. "No minors allowed." Cheshire sighed to herself then looked up at the man, locking his eyes in hers and narrowing them. The man's eyes widened slightly, silently acknowledging who she was.
   "Is he here?" Cheshire asked plainly, keeping her eyes on his.
   "In the back, to the right. You can't miss him."
   "You're such a help," Cheshire smiled at him mockingly, then entered. It was dark and crowded. The faint, blue tinted, lights were dimmed even more by streams of smoke that stretched to the ceiling. Cheshire crinkled her nose at the scent then, made her way to the back of the room, per the bouncers direction. The man at the entrance was right, he was hard to miss. She folded her arms and did her best to pretend her breathing was unaffected. "Hello Absolem."
   The well dressed man sitting in front of her gave a surprised, but somehow amused look. He put the pipe of his hookah down and looked Cheshire in the eyes.
   "Cheshire, I'd say I'm surprised to see you here but, you've always been good at surprises," Absolem gave a half smile and Cheshire couldn't fully tell how real or fake it was.
   "I don't want games caterpillar," She stepped towards him indignantly, only making a step before a large man walked closer in Absolem's defense. To which Absolem raised his hand and the man backed down, allowing Cheshire to stand closer. "How did I- hell, how did you, get here? If anyone in this realm knows it would be you." Absolem took a moment to inhale more smoke before he answered, to which Cheshire blatantly rolled her eyes.
"When Cora disappeared she left quite a few things behind," He began to explain. "With some jabberwock blood and a few incantations, I was able to open a little hole here."
"Then how did I get here?" Cheshire taped her fingers on her arm, impatiently.
"Well I opened the hole, but I never really knew how to close it. It's possible a few things could, unknowingly, get pulled through." Cheshire's eyes widened.
"You're saying you just left a tear into Wonderland floating around?" She stepped closer to him again. That as well as the hostile tone in her voice got Absolem's protector's attention. Cheshire shot the man a look that made him stay where he was standing.
"Wonderland itself opens random portals all the time, you of all people should know that. It will eventually grow unstable and collapse like the rest of them."
"You inconsiderate fluorescent worm!" She waved her hand to the side, knocking the pipe out of his hand and stepped ever closer. With that Absolem nodded at the man waiting for orders and the man came forward grabbing Cheshire's upper arm. She struggled slightly to get out of his grasp but didn't waste too much energy on it, knowing she wasn't in much immediate danger. Absolem stood up. Up until that moment Cheshire had somehow forgotten she was talking to a fully grown human person, but it didn't faze her for long.
"I do hope you believe me when I say, of all the things that could have come through, I'm glad you're one of them. But please dear, mind your temper." He barely finished talking before Cheshire furiously grabbed the arm of the man holding her and teleported behind him, pulling his arm backwards. The man called out in pain for a moment before she grabbed him by the hair and forced his head onto a table, making him pass out. Cheshire teleported back in front of Absolem and looked him coldly in the eyes.
"I am not a child anymore, so don't treat me like one." And before Absolem even had a chance to react he was watching a cloud of purple smoke get lost in the rest around him.
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   Cheshire walked through the tall overgrowth of Tulgey with purpose. She was looking for her cabin, but the woods decided to be a pain that day, and getting back wasn't as straightforward as it usually was. She pushed past the grass blades and into a circular clearing with mushrooms of ranging sizes. Cheshire looked up at the blue caterpillar on top one of the larger ones, who was also looking down at her. She sighed and subtly rolled her eyes, having no interest in being around him.
   "Sorry Absolem, just a tad turned around. Which way's the river? I can figure it out from there."  He motioned a direction with the hookah's pipe still in his hand.
   "Before you go," Absolem stopped her as she was already walking off. "I've been meaning to tell you something." He put the pipe to his mouth again and inhaled again, waiting for Cheshire to acknowledge him. Her ears flattened out for a moment in irritation, before she glared over at him. "The Queen left." Cheshire shook her head in mild disbelief as Absolem told her so nonchalantly.
   "Wh- how do you know that? What do you mean left?" Cheshire flicked her tail and teleported to a mushroom next to his.
   "Well I heard it from the rabbit if you don't believe me. She just got up and left, don't know why," Absolem explained, waving the pipe in his hand. Cheshire took a second to process what she was just told, going over the thoughts in her head.
   "What about the cards?" She pushed him for more details.
   "He told me they've started to scatter, not too many around the castle, since I assume that's what you want to know." She didn't answer him, she only waved her tail over herself and poofed away in a ripple of smoke.