Souffles and Shenanigans

Alice sighed as she sat in the provided chair in the cage before saying "I suppose, if for nothing else, we may as well get to better know one another. At least that way we may clear the air between us. After that it's entirely up to you if we go back to hating each other."

While it'd have seemed like a joke if anyone else said it, Alice's tone made it clear she was serious; or at least acted so. Even the way she looked at Clara as she said it indicated it. By this point it should've been clear to Clara that she wasn't of her own time. Alice only fixed her skirt and her apron on the front of it as she sat and indicated for Clara to start.

"Neither are you, as far as I can tell." Alice retorted to Clara's comment. "The year the Doctor had 'recruited me', as you could say, was 1871, respectively." She waited until Clara said what year she was from at which point Alice commented "My word....two centuries later and look at how societies standards have changed." indicating her outfit. After that she said "I suppose it's my turn for a question then." She thought for a moment, trying to figure what was the best one to ask, before finally saying "Care to explain your history with the Doctor?"

Alice nodded a little when Clara had mentioned the Doctor having a different face when she'd first met him. While she'd known about this herself she did feel that some of the Doctor's friends would likely account in on way or another how they knew the Doctor by a different face aside from his current one.

However Alice did notice the odd way Clara had reacted when mentioning the old Doctor. She wondered of, perhaps, they were more intimate than she let on. But, since Clara had already asked, Alice dropped it and explained her story.

With a little sigh she said "Well it's not too different from when you met him. I was only a little girl though. I found my way to some...odd place, after my cat had run through the mirror mind you. Oh god....it feels like a lifetime ago. But I'd met the Doctor when he had a different face as well. Though, for the life of me, I can't place which it was. But he'd helped me get Dinah back and I came home through the mirror." She bit her lip a little before saying "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed. Especially after everything that happen. Everyone thought I was mad. They sent me to an institution to forget. Then there was that dreadful book written about me. And hardly any of it is what I actually said, by the way." She huffed with a little annoyance as she crossed her arms and said "At the very least the Doctor found me years later and, well....I feel this is his way of trying to make up for what happened."

She hadn't realized if Clara had put together yet that she was in fact the Alice of Alice in Wonderland infamy that the children book was based off. She was so caught up she tended to not realize what she said until too late.

With a little annoyed sigh Alice said "Yes. I'm that Alice. And for the record, it was not any 'Wonderland'. It was just an alien planet. It was the Doctor who called it a 'wondrous place' to me when I was only 10. I get the distinct feeling he knew."

When Clara had mentioned it Alice looked to see the visitors who'd began crowding to look at them. Alice sneered a little at this before turning her back and crossing her arms in such a prompt manner. When Clara explained her plan Alice gave a curious hum, obviously enjoying the idea, before leaning in close so no one would hear.

"I think I have a better idea." she smirked before turning back to the crowd. She waved to them and acted happy, even to where she started interacting with the objects in the cage. She passed Clara and said "Follow along. Quick. Or they'll think you're just boring."

"Just keep playing along." Alice whispered when they were close. "And pretend I'm your mate. We need to play to their oblivious ideas."

She continued to play along to her charming act and tried to keep Clara invested as well. There were points where she would come up and hold Clara's hand or bring her over to the couch to sit with her and look as though they were intimate with each other. Any time Clara shied away or just seemed confused to the point of looking dumbfounded Alice would help her along.

Thankfully the crowd was buying it. The dozen gathered species were looking over the shoulders of others to get a good look at the two. Some of the children were asking to feed them but a sign their parents pointed out said otherwise. Eventually the crowd moved on at which point Alice dropped the act and sighed before looking to Clara.

"Now we wait for the next crowd." she said. Knowing Clara would be confused she said. "Just trust me on this. I know how to play to what an audience wants. Now we have to see how they feel when something unexpected happens."

When Clara mentioned telling they were both females Alice bluntly asked "Can you tell the different between let's say a male and female chimpanzee? Or a tortoise?" She gave a moment to let Clara sink it in before saying "Precisely. Now just trust me or else we could ruin our chances."

Finally another crowd started to form and, again, Alice made sure Clara was pretending to be her mate as much as possible. At one point Alice walked over to the corner where food came through a tube for them. It looks disgusting but smelled like a mix of meat and fruits. Taking a deep breath Alice ate up a bit and seemed to think it was good. She walked back to Clara, food stored in her cheeks, before something started to happen.

Alice began to choke. She was trying to hold back from spitting out food before she collapsed to her knees. The crowd of people gasped and the children started to look like they were ready to cry as she spat out food from her mouth. She looked like she was dying.

Some of the zoo handlers had realized what was happening and ran up near the crowd, seeing as Alice was gasping for life. Her eyes were almost rolling to the back of her head before she collapsed on her back. She lied there motionless, despite whatever Clara did or what the people were screaming. The handlers, seeing this, tried to move them along while saying everything was fine.

It finally came to a point where they called in for someone to handle this, leading to two strong security dressed aliens entering the cage though a hidden door. Both had stunning sticks on them, one which was pointed at Clara to keep her back while the other picked up Alice. Before leaving Alice turned her head and winked at Clara before being taken out, the guard closing the door.

After that it was over a full half hour before Clara had heard from Alice again. When she did return she slowly opened the door, holding a broken stunning stick in her hand and wearing one of the guards helmets on her head. Her clothing was torn a little and one of her stockings had ripped and was around her ankle.

With a calm tone she said "Shall we be off then?"