Thread: Arkham's Education (Cain and AliceArkham)

The less you know, the better. That may be, she kept her tone casual, one of the most inaccurate clichs in existence. She sighed, trying to keep her voice from betraying nervousness. When is it ever better not to know? Admittedly, Alice had a particularly strong opinion on that front. She made her living proving the fallibility of that mantra, and in so doing, her actions had reaffirmed to the point of certainty that ignorance, no matter how comforting, was never a good thing. Never. She was willfully ignorant of what her crimes had done to the people around her, and look where that had landed her. Perhaps not the most direct correlation I can make , she mused, but it's true . Despite opening with a defiant line, the Joker had spooked Alice. The hair on her arms stood up when he talked about breaking a finger by the time he got to leaving the man with the knife in his chest, Alice had gone rigid with trepidation. Had the Joker not started off with the dog story, Alice might have outright refused to have anything to do with the box. As it was, he got to that part next. Good girl, she had grumbled, leaning her head against the wall for a moment before finding it uncomfortable and sitting awkwardly upright. Her mouth was turned down as she thought over his dismissal of her question. She did not want to deliver the box. She didnt want to open the box. She didnt want anything to do with it at all. Alice begrudgingly acknowledged that already this could be a defining moment in their interaction. He was giving her an outright order, with no obvious benefit to herself, to do something that was almost certainly going to get her in trouble. He was that secure in his influence over her, an influence he had cultivated in only a few hours. She shook her head. No, no, I can't deliver that stupid box. He had started the conversation with a threat, so she knew he wouldnt take a refusal lying down. But she was never a good girl in the sense that he was using. She may have been shy am still shy , she corrected herselfbut she had always been feisty. A gift to the doctor, you say? You dont even know the gender of the doctor Ill be seeing. Alice shook her head, blonde hair starting to feel heavy. When do I get to take a shower? she wondered. Biting her lip, Alice's teeth caught on a scab forming where the man, thrashing as he died, had slugged her across the mouth. When the Joker didnt respond to her, which she expected, she went on at a conversational volume, If you want to omit information from me, Ill respect that. But I havent even known you for a day and youre already lying to me? Thats not a good way to start things. Alice swallowed hard. Things? Really? she chided herself, feeling utterly powerless. She hit her head against the wall gently, the action still sharply knocking her teeth together. When she felt secure that, at least for the moment, the Joker had no intention of addressing her concerns, she became reflective. The discomfort of the wall had stopped bothering her enough that, after striking her head against it, she held the position, her neck bent at an almost uncomfortable angle. Closing her eyes, the unevenly textured wall grasping at strands of her hair as she tried to shift to a more relaxed position, she mumbled, It wasnt protection though. My godfather was dead years before I killed that man. Hearing herself say that made the hair stand up on her arms again. She had killed someone. Physically ended someones life. Gotten his blood all over her. Over something had happened years ago. Granted, what that man did set into motion the worst event she'd experienced that far in her life, but she had beaten him with the savagery as if he had killed her godfather in front of her the day before. But I'm not a violent person. I'm not , she told herself, closing her eyes harder, trying to decide what she'd do when they came to collect her for the medical examination.