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Felix Facilier’s hands were sweaty. He subtly wiped them against the fabric of his jacket, screaming internally.
It was stupid for this to be affecting him so much; it wasn't that serious—at least not compared to what he had gone through just a day before.
Setting out to rescue the Queen of Hearts with his crew—and the company of the pompous HK—was truly a crazy undertaking, especially considering he had spent most of his time trying to survive Wonderland alongside his new friend (he wasn't quite sure, though) Robbie rather than actually being of much help with the rescue itself. Not that it really mattered; he had done his part, and now they were going to celebrate everyone who had been part of the Queen's rescue convoy. He was an almost-hero now, and although the villainy would always remain in his heart, he couldn't deny that it felt good to be a hero...
But a teacup was driving him crazy.
Because, he was an almost-hero, yet he still knocked the cup right out of the kind Pink of Hearts' hand. Of course, he hadn't meant to hurt her—it was an instinctive physical reaction triggered by memories of the ocean and a sense of danger—but he still noticed the look of sadness and surprise, tinged with distress, on her face. That was when he realized he might have negatively affected Pink's perception of VKs... the bottom line was, he felt guilty.
He would have spoken to her to apologize right then and there, but apologies didn't come naturally to him; he thought his new friend could guide him through it—preferably in the morning—since Felix knew that even if he tried, there was a strong chance the day's chaos and stress would lead him to say something rude.
So he was going to wait until morning.
But things didn't get any better in the morning, and after being thrown off the chessboard, he found himself wandering around again with the older Smee twin and Robbie, only now they were much smaller than before and less able to help. At least he was able to talk to Robbie, and it was Robbie who told him that if he was so upset about hurting Pink over the cup, a sincere apology plus a replacement for the broken cup would be enough for her to forgive him.
For a moment he thought that perhaps it would be too much, but when Pink found them and gave them Alice's cookie to make them back to their original sizes so that they could help in the final battle, in whatever way, he came to a different conclusion.
Not only did he owe Pink of Hearts an apology, but now he owed her a favor, and although he knows that Pink probably doesn't even have it in mind, at least he is bound by honor, because on the island when you owe someone, you know that eventually you have to pay them back.
So he had to find a tea cup for Pink, a princess who probably had thousands of cups and didn't need another one, yet he still made the effort to find one that the princess could enjoy.
He found one, pale pink with green leaves painted around it; in fact, it came in a set. He only needed to get the cup, and that would be enough, but the set was eye-catching.
He didn't steal it because he figured Pink wouldn't want a stolen cup, so he used some of his savings on the tea set... he didn't know what he was going to do with the rest of the set, because giving it all away would be too much.
There was now a tea set in his room and Max looked at it confused, but Felix didn't think it was important enough to talk about it.
Along the way, he had put the cup in his pocket, protecting it with some card enchantments.
In the Wonderland palace the tea party was about to begin and he felt even more foolish because of his gift. He saw Pink from afar and felt even more nervous. Robbie approached him, initially to encourage him before calling Pink to come towards them and leaving them alone with a silly excuse about the snacks.
"Hi," she greeted enthusiastically.
"Hi," he replied, his hands sweating. She looked at him with a smile and that bubbly energy of a hero's daughter. She was so cute, and he felt his heart begin to race.
He took a deep breath. He took a deep breath; he couldn't humiliate himself like that. He could imagine his father ashamed of his weakness and Celia and Freddie laughing at him. He couldn't let himself be defeated by a conversation.
“I… um,” he coughed slightly to make his voice clearer, “I wanted to apologize.”
Pink looked at him, confusion etched on her soft face.
"About your mug the other day... I didn't mean to throw it or scare you" Who would have invented the concept of apologizing? It was the greatest humiliation a person could feel.
"Oh!" She reacted, finally understanding the reason for the conversation. "It's okay, it wasn't a problem, I was just surprised... thanks for the apology, I mean, apology accepted?" She sounded somewhat lost. Felix concluded that this was new for both of them: offering apologies in his case and receiving apologies in Pink's.
"Thanks, and I brought you this." With a simple gesture he managed to pull the tea cup from his pocket and into his right hand. At least he could count on the Facilier style to maintain his composure when his personality started to falter.
She stared at him intently, with an expression that Felix couldn't explain, which made him panic for a second thinking she was probably going to laugh at him, which was probably the most ridiculous thing he could imagine. But still, his brain hadn't been very kind to him during the last few hours.
But a whisper of a smile appeared on Pink's face, a subtle one, still somewhat stunned by the gift, and Felix didn't know it, but inside Pink, her heart was beating faster than ever and her face felt hot as if a burst of sunlight had hit her directly; she didn't know how to react.
Pink's hands subtly rose with a subtle attempt to take the cup. Felix took advantage of the situation and with his left hand took the princess's nearest hand with the intention of bringing her closer to him and being able to transfer the cup from owner to owner in a very gentle way.
The contact was like an electric shock for both of them.
"To replace the old one" Felix said quickly, trying to break free from the subtle trance that had gripped him for a second.
She gazed at the cup for a moment, a wide smile on her face, before speaking.
An 'aw...' escaped the lips of the girl who was gazing at the teacup. "It's so cute" She said, letting out a soft laugh, a weight lifted from Felix's back at that moment. "I love it!"
"I'm glad you like it… I thought it would be silly to give you a mug because you probably have a lot of them." He chuckled a little to make it clear the comment was a silly joke.
"Yes, I have a lot… but I don't have this one" She replied happily.
"Then I hope my choice pleases you... Princess" The girl chuckled, her voice melodious in his ears. "And I also wanted to thank you for giving me that cookie yesterday. I didn't enjoy being tiny..."
"Don't mention it" She explained. "I couldn't leave you small forever."
"I owe you one, to be honest" Felix replied with a serious expression. Pink analyzed him for a second. Felix wondered if she would understand it the way he understood it, but he didn't dare say anything more.
They remained silent for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes, unblinking, completely focused on one another.
“I’ll keep that in mind” Pink said, breaking the tension, just a second before the Queen of Hearts interrupted to make a toast.
They didn't talk much more during the party, not because of anything problematic other than the fact that they were both on their own chat channels: Felix with his VK friends and Pink with her sister and mother.
Even so, they said goodbye with a smile, and both carried the memory of their conversation in their minds. As night fell, they both stared at the same soft porcelain, with silly grins on their faces, unaware that the other was doing the exact same thing.