Outside the Dorms, Friday Night - Scantily Clad, Covered in Goo, and Wet

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice was now covered in raw sewage as well as gooey alligator bits. Zack had mentioned that it was probably a bad idea to go back into the dorms dripping these sorts of things, and Zack happened to be right.

Which was why Alice was standing out on the lawns of the dorms, with a hose, and with most of her clothing in a pile near it. Look, she was still wearing her unmentionables. It wasn't as though she was nude.

There was even a cheery sign:

UN-STINK YOURSELF BEFORE RETURNING TO THE DORMS

(OPEN! For anyone who is covered in sewage, or alligator bits, or who just wants to get half-naked and wet. Show off those hot icons, people!)

Comments

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Something I'm well-practised at," Ed said, steeling himself. This involved squeezing his eyes shut in preparation. It helped that he now couldn't see the scantily cladness. Not that she wasn't pretty, but various states of undress often flustered Edmund depending on his mood, the time of day and the number of daffodils growing in Pennsylvania (not that he knew that). "Fire away."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

The water was very cold, and very forceful, both of which made it very good at removing alligator bits, so there was that, at least.

"It helps if you strip down some yourself," she noted, "but if I say that, you might blush harder."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

He thought, for the briefest of moments, about denying that he was blushing and that it was just from exertion or the very cold water. The moment passed. "Am I that obvious?" he asked, now dripping wet.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"You're very proper," Alice said solemnly. "Dignified and formal and whatnot. If you weren't blushing and thinking that I'm a terribly indecent sort of girl, I would wonder if you'd gone mad, too."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Are you a terribly indecent sort of girl or is this just in the name of cleanliness?" he asked bluntly.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Both," Alice decided. "That is, I'm only out here half-dressed because I was covered in alligator bits and raw sewage, and this seemed preferable to dripping goo on the floors. It seemed practical, and it's not as though I'm nude. So I wasn't attempting to be shocking, or flaunt myself. But I am quite unseemly, at least, by Victorian standards. Modern ones would have me as fairly tame, I think. Tell me where yours fall, on that scale, and I can tell you whether you should disapprove of me."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Somewhere in between Victorian and modern," Edmund replied, not really quite sure how to take this girl's oddness. "So while your state of dress has me blushing, as you pointed out, and left me unsure of what to say or do to a lady in such a state, I'm not about to insist that you're a harlot or insist you find a nunnery. Still, aren't you cold? I could get you a coat if you are."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"You'd make a good knight," Alice said, and now she was blushing. "I'm in my undergarments, and you're still calling me a lady. I'm fine, I thank you. I smell far less like something unfortunate now. It's probably for the best that I've never gone to a nunnery; I fear I might have a very ill effect on nuns."

Two weeks until someone snapped and attacked her with a pencil. Maximum.

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I am a knight," he said, but it wasn't the point of his reply. "If you have an ill effect on nuns, and from what I've learned it's not a good idea to tangle with the clergy, then there's even less reason for me to insist on you going to a nunnery. I suppose that's decided then."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"No nunneries," she said. "That doesn't touch the larger question of what you think of me, but polite society loathes discussing such things. As a knight, I expect you'd demur. How is the hosing coming along?"

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I think I'm clean enough for now," he said. "As to your question," he added with some thought, "I don't know what to think of you. You caught me off guard being in your underthings." Oh Ed, underthings? Really? "But I don't know you, so I have very little to base a proper opinion on. I think, for now, it's best that I wait until I meet you under different circumstances with more clothes and then let you know what I think after that."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Right, then," she nodded. "That's quite the charitable offer, which fits nicely with you being a knight. Giving the lady a chance to redeem herself, even after she's mentioned how she terrorizes nuns. Hypothetical nuns, I assure you; I don't seek out nuns in order to disrupt their daily lives. I'm sure most nuns are quite pleasant. When would you like to meet under different circumstances? Or were you leaving that to the vagaries of fate?"

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I hadn't really put much thought into it," Ed admitted, dripping now that the flow of water had stopped. "But I think it only fair that I do meet you in a different state of dress so I can form a proper, well-rounded opinion of you rather than basing it on this one meeting. I'm Edmund, by the way." Introductions generally came first, but sometimes it was hard to do that when there was water and definitely not looking at the girl at all. That tree over there really was fascinating.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I thought so," Alice laughed. "You're in my spy class. Alice Liddell, pleased to make your acquaintance, although that isn't entirely the correct phrase in this instance. Thought it might affect your well-rounded opinion of me."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

It was at that moment that he finally looked Alice in the eye. "Oh! That was you? Er, of course it was," he quickly corrected himself, feeling very sheepish about this whole situation and very grateful that Peter and the girls weren't here to see this. "You look different with clothes on. More clothes." He was just going to shut up now.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"You should have seen me in the pinafore, last summer," she said brightly. "Perhaps I have a series of clever disguises. I should tell the instructor on Monday that I'm doing quite well as a spy. Though I suppose peeling off most of one's clothes does pull the eyes away from one's face. We should have dinner. For the well-rounded opinion, that is, not because I'm partially dressed."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Dinner?" Ed repeated. "I suppose it's only fair that I buy you dinner to make up for stammering at you."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I can buy my own dinner," she said primly. "And I quite enjoyed your stammering. I suppose I deserved it, standing out here in my unmentionables."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund was still befuddled by her. "You're going to make for an interesting dinner conversationalist."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I usually do," Alice said. "It's one of my better qualities."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Then I should look forward to it. Sunday night perhaps?"

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Sunday night," Alice agreed. "I'll wear something appropriate and we'll have a nice, normal dinner, except for my quite unusual approach to conversation, that is. I promise to be as proper as I can manage."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I'm not much of a conversationalist," unless there was a treaty to be sealed, "but I'll do my best to contribute. And be clothed."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Both choices seem wise," she laughed. "Sunday, then."

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Where?"