Snippet #2464473

"Wendy the Flatmate." Wendy repeated to herself, and chuckled. Oh, to have fallen so far to hear such a thing from the Hatter, an odd wonder of Wonderland if there ever was one. Really, she had to get Peter to give her an official title back in Wonderland, just to keep up with her friends! Peter the King, Alice the Champion, not to mention all of Alice's Wonderland friends with their own stories and accomplishments. To be fair, however, in Neverland she had been the Storyteller, briefly a Pirate, always a Mother, but they didn't carry the same ring. But... Storyteller was something she'd carry always, something she couldn't give up, no matter how inconsequential it seemed against other, grander things.

Peter's hand brushed hers under the table. Reflexively, she grabbed it in hers, holding it tight and lacing her fingers through his. She turned her head to smile at him. "They seem like they know what they're doing, Peter," Wendy remarked, and turned again to watch Alice smile at them and leave the room with Hatter. Hopefully, if Alice needed backup, she would come and get her, but.. something made her doubt that. This was Alice's place. Alice's story, Alice's strength. Alice could do it on her own, but still, Wendy worried. Ah yes, the fourth title she'd been missing. Wendy the Worrier. Had a nice alliterative ring to it.

"So, Peter," she asked, taking a bite of her soup with her other hand and turning to him, still holding his hand fast in hers for as long as hed allow it. "Alice has to do her thing, and I'm sure the Queen might need some time to do her own research, so how about we go exploring? If it pleases Your Majesty, that is," she said, belatedly remembering the courtesies and nodding her head politely to the Queen before turning back to meet Peter's eyes.

"We might not be here for long, and I for one am very curious about Wonderland, especially considering all the stories I've heard of it. I can't quite seem to make out how it works, and that makes me want to poke around a bit. Besides, the Lost Boys could always use new stories. Heaven knows they'll probably be bored stiff by my adventures in England. Although, I have to admit," she said with a slightly embarrassed laugh, "I am a bit rusty when it comes to adventuring. Too long playing Grown Up, so you'll have to reteach me again, I'm afraid. Grown Up adventures just aren't the same."

As she said those words, it struck her like a mermaid's tail to the face--yes, that had happened, no, she didn't want to talk about it, and yes of COURSE Peter had been involved--that that's what she'd been doing in Brighton. Playing at being a "Grown Up." Of course she'd grown up physically and mentally, of course she felt differently and had matured past who she'd been in Neverland as a child, but. But. There was always a caveat, and this one was significant in her mind. She'd gotten a job, a flat, a flatmate, Grown Up friends, everything you were supposed to do when you grew up. And much of that felt natural to her, but the underlying motive had never been a natural one, and she'd never really anticipated her future. How could she? In a game of Let's Pretend, she'd even fooled herself so well that she believed she wasn't playing the game anymore. Of course she'd seen herself happy and settled down, but she could never take the middle steps or even see them, as much as she longed for that picture perfect future. Such a conundrum she had, then, and perhaps Wonderland was a good a place as any to think it out. If Neverland was what she wanted, which she knew in the deepest part of herself that it was, what did she want from Neverland?