Work Text:
Life hasn't always been like this, Alice told herself.
There used to be a time when the walls around her weren't all staggering white and the lights weren't all blindingly cold. But that fact was hard to remember sometimes, especially now, when her routine consisted of waking up, doing check ups, blood tests, talking to nurses, eating the hospital's horrible food, staring at the ceiling and then, after hours past her bedtime, spent fulfilling herself with her own boredom, going to sleep.
This is good. You're recovering. There's hope.
She told herself while walking through the stalling halls, her sleeves scrunching uncomfortably whenever she moved her arms covered with her blue hospital gown's itchy material. The monotony of it all kept her grounded. Kept her from wondering, kept her in the present - imprisoned.
"You're Alice, right?" A voice said, coming from behind her. She turned around and green eyes met brown eyes. The sound came from a boy taller than her, with sandy hair and a white hospital gown. He stood by a door labeled '156.
"Yes," She answered, frozen in her place. The boy had a messy appearance, as of someone who is drawn to mischief. Though Alice swore he could easily blend in with his surroundings by how pale his skin was "Do I know you?"
He took a few steps forward, moving away from the door "I'm Alfred" The boy offered his hand and Alice took it. Without giving her a chance to say anything, Alfred immediately began speaking again "Do you ever think about how the way you view things will never be the same to others and might never truly match what reality will ever come to be or currently is?"
Yes, the answer was yes. She had thought about that. Probably in the middle of the night, someday between the last few months, when she couldn't sleep and didn't have any form of entertainment available other than her own mind. But that wasn't really the point, what appalled Alice was how this boy she just met could confess something like this so suddenly, so unashamedly.
"Your face is telling me you either feel absolutely weirded out by this," Alfred stared at her with an expression of wonder, like Alice was a mystery waiting to be decoded "or, that you have, indeed, shared the same thoughts as me"
Alice smiled at him, against her own will. She felt weirdly comfortable, like Alfred could magically read her mind. Read her.
"So, Alice," He said, matching her smile with a smirk of his own "What do you say?"