More Victor/Alice Already?
Jan. 30th, 2010 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chick-D: You really need to do something on weekends besides hibernate.-
Hey, I was going out all last weekend and most of last week. I think I've earned a weekend to stay in -- especially when it's this freaking cold outside. I think the high today was only in the 20s.
-M2: She's definitely got a point there, Doc.-
-HD: *passes hot tea all around* We can't have anyone freezing into a block of ice.-
Oh, maybe we could --
-VD2: No. We're not saying that line.-
Come on! It's funny!
-VD: We're not repeating any lines from movies the Nostalgia Critic has torn into!-
But he liked that line! It's sort of a meme on that site!
-VD2: The point stands!-
Hmph.
Anyway, I figured I'd post some more of my 30 Dances -- and I figured, while I was at it, I'd introduce you to that mini-universe I came up with while writing them. So, without further ado:
19. Lesson – Falling For You
Alice sat in the middle of the ballroom, scowling at a nearby wall. This latest idea of her Aunt Susan’s was the most ridiculous yet. She couldn’t have a debutante ball – wasn’t she too old? Didn’t those usually happen at 16? And besides that, who would come? She wasn’t known in society as anything other than “that mad girl from Rutledge.” The lords and ladies and all those other sort of people wouldn’t come anywhere near her (and was that really such a great loss? Alice didn’t think she’d like those snots under the best of circumstances). And as for all these male suitors she was supposed to collect – what kind of boy would want to marry her? They were all probably deathly afraid of her, or considered her “damaged goods.” Trying to make a good match was just silly in her case. Did Aunt Susan expect the perfect young man to just appear at the door?
Knock, knock. “Miss Alice? Master Van Dort is here to see you.”
. . .Well, maybe Aunt Susan was onto something. Feeling instantly more cheerful, Alice got off the floor and opened the door. Victor was indeed standing there, along with the family butler, Raymond. “Hello, Victor,” Alice greeted him with a smile. “What brings you by?”
“Your aunt and uncle invited me, actually,” Victor said, entering the room. “To talk to me about the upcoming ball.”
Alice’s smile dropped off. “Oh. I’m sorry if they bored you. I often find myself nodding off when Aunt Susan starts going on about it.”
“It’s fine,” Victor chuckled. “It’s no different than listening to my mother and Anna chatter on.” Turning serious, he added, “You’re not looking forward to this, are you?”
“Not really,” Alice admitted with a sigh. “I suspect it’s going to be a very boring affair, for all Aunt Susan’s talking it up. Standing around, talking awkwardly to people. . . . I don’t even know how to dance, you know.”
“Really?”
Alice nodded. “Mum arranged for me to have lessons when I was small, but I only got through two before. . . .” She trailed off, not really wanting to bring it up.
Victor turned pink. “Oh, I see.” He was silent for a moment. “Er – um – I – I could s-show you how t-to waltz, if you w-wish,” he suddenly offered.
Alice blinked, surprised. “I – you know how to dance?” she blurted. She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d seen how clumsy he could be at times. It was hard to imagine him on the ballroom floor.
Victor’s blush deepened. “Mother insisted Anna and I both have lessons. To prepare us for when we entered society.”
Ah, that made sense. Alice thought it over for a moment. “Well, I can hardly be excused from attending my own debutante ball,” she said with a shrug. “And I ought to know at least one dance. So yes, thank you, Victor.”
Victor smiled. “You’re welcome. It’s not p-particularly hard – you move in a bit of a box. Here, let me show you.” He took her hands in his – his skin was surprisingly warm. “Now, you put your h-hand here – or, er, as far as you can reach. And my hand goes on your w-waist--”
“Good thing you have long arms,” Alice noted with a playful smirk.
“Y-yes,” Victor agreed, chuckling. “Now, I step back, and you step forward – right – and then we move to the left. . . .”
He spent a few minutes slowly leading her through the steps. Alice picked up the rhythm rather quickly, and soon they were revolving around the dance floor. “You’re right, this is simple,” Alice said, glancing at her feet with a pleased expression. “You’re a good teacher.”
Victor grinned at her, looking a little embarrassed. “You only say that because I haven’t--”
He abruptly lost his footing on a slick patch of floor and collapsed, dragging Alice down into a heap. Alice yelped, startled. “– tripped yet,” Victor finished, eyes widening in horror. “Oh, Alice, I’m sorry! Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine,” Alice assured him, quickly checking herself over before looking up.
Her breath caught. Victor’s face was only inches from her own, a rare occurrence indeed. His dark brown eyes locked onto hers, still worried, but – with a hint of something else there. Something. . .almost. . . . She suddenly, rapidly became aware of all the places their bodies were touching: his left hand on her shoulder, his right hand on her wrist, his right leg nestled between hers, with his knee just touching the edges of her skirt. . . .
Raymond, who’d remained in the doorway to oversee things, gave an apologetic cough. “I do hate to ruin the moment, but you two might want to get up before the master or the mistress of the house comes in and finds you like that.”
The thought of Aunt Susan – or worse, Uncle Charles – coming in and having a fit effectively broke the spell. Alice and Victor hurriedly untangled themselves and got to their feet, both trying and failing not to blush. “Ah – yes,” Alice said, feeling a sudden attack of shyness. Goodness, that had been an interesting moment. . . . “T-thank you for the lesson.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Victor said quietly, not meeting her eyes.
“You’re coming to this, aren’t you?” Alice asked abruptly. After what had just transpired, she felt it best to ask.
“What? Oh, yes! My entire family’s invited.” He finally looked her full in the face, and smiled. “I’ll be there. I promise.”
Alice smiled back, feeling quite warm inside. “Good. Now I do have something to look forward to.” She took his hand, deciding it was time to get away from this awkward yet wonderful moment. “Come on, I have the funniest book to show you. . . .”
-TTV: . . . Do excuse me, but -- did I see the name -- Anna -- in there?-
You did. To bring everyone up to speed, a previous fanfic of mine, Absence of Hate, centered around Nell's feelings at Victor's birth, and what the Van Dorts went through to have him. I mentioned in that fic that Victor technically has an older sister in my fanon -- Anna, who unfortunately died the same day she was born thanks to having the umbilical cord get tangled around her neck. This universe centers around the idea, "what if Anna had lived?"
-TD: Well, obviously Victor's still around, and acquainted with Alice -- is he still getting married to Victoria?-
Not presently. It helps that he has an older sister now who can concentrate her attentions on finding a hopefully-titled husband. This poor Victor was actually ignored a bit more by his parents, particularly Nell, who doted on Anna -- she only decided to try for a second child after William reminded her she'd promised him two on their wedding night. Victor's been living in the shadow of his "miracle" older sister most of his life -- he's mostly like the Victor we know and love, just maybe with a bit more of TTV's deadpan snarker attitude.
-TTV: *blink blink* I -- actually, I suppose I am a lot more sarcastic these days.-
-VuM: Must be a side effect of living with us.-
LOL. Anyway, for all the bad effects, it actually did have one good effect on Victor's life -- this one got to go to college. He's studying either music or entomology -- I haven't quite decided yet.
-OD: *tentacles chatter as it clicks* He's going to Oxford, isn't he?-
Bingo! And he's made the acquaintance of the Liddells -- Charles still works as William's solicitor in this world, so Victor knows him a bit from that. He's actually good friends with all the family, but in particular Alice. And as you can see, by this point in the universe, friendship is starting to blossom into something else.
As for the fic itself, I always had the idea that I wanted it to be about Victor teaching Alice how to dance. I just wasn't sure what universe to set it in, until I came up with this one after rereading "Absence of Hate." I also always knew they were going to fall, and have a bit of a moment while lying there on the ground. I actually "tarted" things up a bit from the rough draft -- originally, I didn't mention that Victor's knee was right at the edges of her skirt. ;)
-TTV: *rolls eyes*-
I think the ending's a little weak still, but I wasn't sure how to handle it, so I just left it as it is. As for the title, it took me a while to figure it out. Then, one day, I happened to hear Falling For You on the radio, and I went, "Perfect!" (It also got added to the Victor/Alice playlist, under the "Do You Love Me Too?" heading)
-TD: Perfect because the lyrics sort of fit, or perfect because of the pun?-
Both. :D Anyway, there's a number of other stories in this mini-series, most centering around the debutante ball Susan's throwing here, so expect to see quite a bit more of this Victor and Alice.
Other notes of the day:
-->Firefox has been glitching on me lately. Twice in two days, it's suddenly gone a little nutty when it comes to displaying logos, switching between tabs, stuff like that. Closing it out and reopening it seems to fix the the problem, but I think I'm gonna have to get that version upgrade I skipped out on before. Moose has assured me LJ Login won't go bye-bye, so now I don't have to worry about that.
-->Proof that they really will make Minimates for anything: Charm City Cakes Chef Duff Minimate. He comes with two cakes, a guitar, a baseball cap, and various cake-making tools (including a chainsaw). I REALLY want to know what prompted the creation of Duffmate.
-->That girl who made that too-cute dolly of Doc on devART? She made an Emily too! And she's apparently planning on an Alice in Wonderland one at some point, so she'll be covering all three of my fandoms.
-DW: I doubt it's going to be the American McGee's Alice version.-
I know -- though that would be hilarious. XD
Aaand that's about it, I think. Enjoy!
Hey, I was going out all last weekend and most of last week. I think I've earned a weekend to stay in -- especially when it's this freaking cold outside. I think the high today was only in the 20s.
-M2: She's definitely got a point there, Doc.-
-HD: *passes hot tea all around* We can't have anyone freezing into a block of ice.-
Oh, maybe we could --
-VD2: No. We're not saying that line.-
Come on! It's funny!
-VD: We're not repeating any lines from movies the Nostalgia Critic has torn into!-
But he liked that line! It's sort of a meme on that site!
-VD2: The point stands!-
Hmph.
Anyway, I figured I'd post some more of my 30 Dances -- and I figured, while I was at it, I'd introduce you to that mini-universe I came up with while writing them. So, without further ado:
19. Lesson – Falling For You
Alice sat in the middle of the ballroom, scowling at a nearby wall. This latest idea of her Aunt Susan’s was the most ridiculous yet. She couldn’t have a debutante ball – wasn’t she too old? Didn’t those usually happen at 16? And besides that, who would come? She wasn’t known in society as anything other than “that mad girl from Rutledge.” The lords and ladies and all those other sort of people wouldn’t come anywhere near her (and was that really such a great loss? Alice didn’t think she’d like those snots under the best of circumstances). And as for all these male suitors she was supposed to collect – what kind of boy would want to marry her? They were all probably deathly afraid of her, or considered her “damaged goods.” Trying to make a good match was just silly in her case. Did Aunt Susan expect the perfect young man to just appear at the door?
Knock, knock. “Miss Alice? Master Van Dort is here to see you.”
. . .Well, maybe Aunt Susan was onto something. Feeling instantly more cheerful, Alice got off the floor and opened the door. Victor was indeed standing there, along with the family butler, Raymond. “Hello, Victor,” Alice greeted him with a smile. “What brings you by?”
“Your aunt and uncle invited me, actually,” Victor said, entering the room. “To talk to me about the upcoming ball.”
Alice’s smile dropped off. “Oh. I’m sorry if they bored you. I often find myself nodding off when Aunt Susan starts going on about it.”
“It’s fine,” Victor chuckled. “It’s no different than listening to my mother and Anna chatter on.” Turning serious, he added, “You’re not looking forward to this, are you?”
“Not really,” Alice admitted with a sigh. “I suspect it’s going to be a very boring affair, for all Aunt Susan’s talking it up. Standing around, talking awkwardly to people. . . . I don’t even know how to dance, you know.”
“Really?”
Alice nodded. “Mum arranged for me to have lessons when I was small, but I only got through two before. . . .” She trailed off, not really wanting to bring it up.
Victor turned pink. “Oh, I see.” He was silent for a moment. “Er – um – I – I could s-show you how t-to waltz, if you w-wish,” he suddenly offered.
Alice blinked, surprised. “I – you know how to dance?” she blurted. She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d seen how clumsy he could be at times. It was hard to imagine him on the ballroom floor.
Victor’s blush deepened. “Mother insisted Anna and I both have lessons. To prepare us for when we entered society.”
Ah, that made sense. Alice thought it over for a moment. “Well, I can hardly be excused from attending my own debutante ball,” she said with a shrug. “And I ought to know at least one dance. So yes, thank you, Victor.”
Victor smiled. “You’re welcome. It’s not p-particularly hard – you move in a bit of a box. Here, let me show you.” He took her hands in his – his skin was surprisingly warm. “Now, you put your h-hand here – or, er, as far as you can reach. And my hand goes on your w-waist--”
“Good thing you have long arms,” Alice noted with a playful smirk.
“Y-yes,” Victor agreed, chuckling. “Now, I step back, and you step forward – right – and then we move to the left. . . .”
He spent a few minutes slowly leading her through the steps. Alice picked up the rhythm rather quickly, and soon they were revolving around the dance floor. “You’re right, this is simple,” Alice said, glancing at her feet with a pleased expression. “You’re a good teacher.”
Victor grinned at her, looking a little embarrassed. “You only say that because I haven’t--”
He abruptly lost his footing on a slick patch of floor and collapsed, dragging Alice down into a heap. Alice yelped, startled. “– tripped yet,” Victor finished, eyes widening in horror. “Oh, Alice, I’m sorry! Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine,” Alice assured him, quickly checking herself over before looking up.
Her breath caught. Victor’s face was only inches from her own, a rare occurrence indeed. His dark brown eyes locked onto hers, still worried, but – with a hint of something else there. Something. . .almost. . . . She suddenly, rapidly became aware of all the places their bodies were touching: his left hand on her shoulder, his right hand on her wrist, his right leg nestled between hers, with his knee just touching the edges of her skirt. . . .
Raymond, who’d remained in the doorway to oversee things, gave an apologetic cough. “I do hate to ruin the moment, but you two might want to get up before the master or the mistress of the house comes in and finds you like that.”
The thought of Aunt Susan – or worse, Uncle Charles – coming in and having a fit effectively broke the spell. Alice and Victor hurriedly untangled themselves and got to their feet, both trying and failing not to blush. “Ah – yes,” Alice said, feeling a sudden attack of shyness. Goodness, that had been an interesting moment. . . . “T-thank you for the lesson.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Victor said quietly, not meeting her eyes.
“You’re coming to this, aren’t you?” Alice asked abruptly. After what had just transpired, she felt it best to ask.
“What? Oh, yes! My entire family’s invited.” He finally looked her full in the face, and smiled. “I’ll be there. I promise.”
Alice smiled back, feeling quite warm inside. “Good. Now I do have something to look forward to.” She took his hand, deciding it was time to get away from this awkward yet wonderful moment. “Come on, I have the funniest book to show you. . . .”
-TTV: . . . Do excuse me, but -- did I see the name -- Anna -- in there?-
You did. To bring everyone up to speed, a previous fanfic of mine, Absence of Hate, centered around Nell's feelings at Victor's birth, and what the Van Dorts went through to have him. I mentioned in that fic that Victor technically has an older sister in my fanon -- Anna, who unfortunately died the same day she was born thanks to having the umbilical cord get tangled around her neck. This universe centers around the idea, "what if Anna had lived?"
-TD: Well, obviously Victor's still around, and acquainted with Alice -- is he still getting married to Victoria?-
Not presently. It helps that he has an older sister now who can concentrate her attentions on finding a hopefully-titled husband. This poor Victor was actually ignored a bit more by his parents, particularly Nell, who doted on Anna -- she only decided to try for a second child after William reminded her she'd promised him two on their wedding night. Victor's been living in the shadow of his "miracle" older sister most of his life -- he's mostly like the Victor we know and love, just maybe with a bit more of TTV's deadpan snarker attitude.
-TTV: *blink blink* I -- actually, I suppose I am a lot more sarcastic these days.-
-VuM: Must be a side effect of living with us.-
LOL. Anyway, for all the bad effects, it actually did have one good effect on Victor's life -- this one got to go to college. He's studying either music or entomology -- I haven't quite decided yet.
-OD: *tentacles chatter as it clicks* He's going to Oxford, isn't he?-
Bingo! And he's made the acquaintance of the Liddells -- Charles still works as William's solicitor in this world, so Victor knows him a bit from that. He's actually good friends with all the family, but in particular Alice. And as you can see, by this point in the universe, friendship is starting to blossom into something else.
As for the fic itself, I always had the idea that I wanted it to be about Victor teaching Alice how to dance. I just wasn't sure what universe to set it in, until I came up with this one after rereading "Absence of Hate." I also always knew they were going to fall, and have a bit of a moment while lying there on the ground. I actually "tarted" things up a bit from the rough draft -- originally, I didn't mention that Victor's knee was right at the edges of her skirt. ;)
-TTV: *rolls eyes*-
I think the ending's a little weak still, but I wasn't sure how to handle it, so I just left it as it is. As for the title, it took me a while to figure it out. Then, one day, I happened to hear Falling For You on the radio, and I went, "Perfect!" (It also got added to the Victor/Alice playlist, under the "Do You Love Me Too?" heading)
-TD: Perfect because the lyrics sort of fit, or perfect because of the pun?-
Both. :D Anyway, there's a number of other stories in this mini-series, most centering around the debutante ball Susan's throwing here, so expect to see quite a bit more of this Victor and Alice.
Other notes of the day:
-->Firefox has been glitching on me lately. Twice in two days, it's suddenly gone a little nutty when it comes to displaying logos, switching between tabs, stuff like that. Closing it out and reopening it seems to fix the the problem, but I think I'm gonna have to get that version upgrade I skipped out on before. Moose has assured me LJ Login won't go bye-bye, so now I don't have to worry about that.
-->Proof that they really will make Minimates for anything: Charm City Cakes Chef Duff Minimate. He comes with two cakes, a guitar, a baseball cap, and various cake-making tools (including a chainsaw). I REALLY want to know what prompted the creation of Duffmate.
-->That girl who made that too-cute dolly of Doc on devART? She made an Emily too! And she's apparently planning on an Alice in Wonderland one at some point, so she'll be covering all three of my fandoms.
-DW: I doubt it's going to be the American McGee's Alice version.-
I know -- though that would be hilarious. XD
Aaand that's about it, I think. Enjoy!
