voidtreckernet

[Did she just curtsy? Way to stab him right in the feels. Suddenly he was remembering a little brown haired five year old who would do that when they played pretend. His smile was still friendly, but his voice was just a little strained with emotion.]

Ah yes. [Ahem.] I'm his mentor. I'll uh.. I'll meet you in the kitchen.

[By then maybe he'll get the frog out of his throat.]

[She did, it's a pretty innate action for her when meeting people. But Alice, at least, knows where the kitchen is. It helps that she's not terribly far from it.

Alice peaked her head into the kitchen car and looked around.]

Mr. Stark? [She called out, coming all the way inside.] Are you here, sir? [Well... she supposed that was a silly question to ask, if he weren't here, he couldn't very well answer, now could he?]

Edited 2020-05-27 18:34 (UTC)

[Tony had been in his office and had put a few things away before walking to the kitchen. As he enters the room, he spots the girl and smiles at her.]

Alice?

[He starts looking through the cabinets and then sighs. Looks like they'll be making these brownies from scratch. No doubt Peter ate the last of his other batch.]

What do you like to drink, sweetie?

Ah, yes! The little one. [She smiled, coming close to him. She blushed at being called sweetie and just smiled wider.] Well, I'm very fond of tea, but if we haven't any, I won't say no to juice, I like apple juice or lemonade. Isn't it terribly strange we call it lemonade though and not lemon juice, though? We DO have lemon juice though, because you read about it in cooking instructions.

[Alice shook her head.] I do wonder who goes about naming things. Perhaps the person who invented it, but I don't even know where lemonade would have come from, what are lemons aiding?

[Oh dear god.. This one needed to meet Ignis. She'd be adopted in under three seconds.]

We have tea. Lucky for you, I went to school in England, so I know how to make it properly.

[The rest of her mental meandering like a drunk rabbit, he just chuckles at. He picks up the kettle and fills it with water.]

You've a very inquisitive mind. That's a wonderful trait to have. The word 'lemonade' comes from the French word limonade, where the -ade suffix- or ending- indicates the product of an action. In some parts of the world lemonade isn't just lemons and water either, it's carbonated. So while apple juice or grape juice are pressed fruit, water, and sugar, lemonade has to be made if carbonated. I suppose it just stuck from there even for versions that aren't carbonated.

[He got down a mixing bowl and ingredients with the ease of someone very, very familiar with both this kitchen and a particular recipe.]

Ah! Splendid! I actually live... lived in England. I'm from Oxford! Where did you go to school, sir?

Oh... ah, thank you. [Alice blushed deeper, she's honestly not used to consistent compliments, and certainly not about her intelligence. Alice looked around.] Can I help? I know how to bake a little. I help make biscuits all the time! Muffins too! And you speak french too? I speak French! I was learning it and Latin before here. You're very smart, Mr. Stark, is that why you're the leader?

But I did know that lemonade is carbonated! That's what we drink back home. I like the way it fizzes!

Really? I went to Oxford University, so we're practically family.

[He winked at her. When he spoke next, it was in French (not that it matter with the SCA translating everything, but still a show off was a show off).]

Yes, of course. The measuring spoons are right down there. Would you get the butter and eggs from the fridge? Thank you, my dear.

I'm the smartest man you'll ever meet.

[Just as he was saying that another man walked into the room. He was tall and slender and giving Tony the most amused smirk ever.]

Ignis was on his eternal quest for coffee when he heard Tony speaking a language he'd never heard before. So he stopped and stared for a moment, even while he admonished himself that staring was rude. But the stare was quickly dismissed as he saw that the man was in the kitchen about to make..something.

So he moved to the side as to not interrupt but he had wanted to talk to the man about the chaos and arguing that had happened earlier. But now here the older man was talking to a newer passenger. And Tony had the absolute nerve to accuse him of collecting children sometimes. Well this one was squarely Stark's fault.

But he turned around and stirred his coffee, simply watching the scene unfold with a smirk on his face. This could be downright entertaining.

"We are like family! That's where I live! My father is a vice-chancellor there!" Alice was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, so excited that not only someone knew about Oxford, England (besides the older Miss Alice), but had attended university there and lived there (again, besides the older Miss Alice). Alice giggled as he spoke in French. When he asked her to get the butter and eggs, she hurried over to the fridge to do so and pulled out the items. She didn't quite understand why eggs or butter were kept in the cold when they could be kept out in the open with no problem, but perhaps it was something about being modern or train eggs and butter.

As she set everything on the counter, she saw Ignis and became a bit shy, moving a bit behind Tony, watching Ignis and hoping she wasn't in the way of anything.

"Oh ah, Mr. Stark," she responded in French, having switched so as to keep up her practice. "Perhaps we should let this man get what he needs before we continue." She was still somewhat hiding behind Tony when she said it all, a single hand resting on the small of his back.

Small world, Tony thought as he little by little became more charmed by this odd but sweet girl. "What year was it in England before you came here?" He asked, setting her tea up for when the kettle whistled. He flashed Ignis a grin when he spotted him. He was in middle of counting ingredients in his head, so he didn't do more than that right away.

He was just opening his mouth to tell Ignis to snag a lemon for him when he noticed the girl's reaction. His smile turned soft and slightly pained, bittersweet. The memory of another little girl with long brown hair who used to do the same thing. He missed her so.. He shook his head briefly, like the motion might knock those memories away before anyone noticed them. He knew Ignis had so he chose not to look in his direction for a moment.

He crouched down and held out a hand to take Alice's. He wasn't going to force her if she was still too shy. "That's a very kind offer, but we supposed to bother this man. This, Alice, is Ignis and he belongs to me. He is the kindest and most generous person. Ignis, meet Alice. She is one of the newest guests on our train. We haven't come up with a nickname for her yet, but I thought I'd butter her up with some tea and brownies first."

He was more than aware of the shyness and wasn't going to stay because he didn't wish to interrupt. But it was still an adorable sight of the little blonde girl hiding behind Tony. Obviously she could speak the same language as he but it still wasn't the one he'd heard on the beach from either of the women he'd encountered.

Drat.

Tony's expression seemed to turn pained and Ignis immediately worried. He wondered at it for a moment and wanted to reach out but with the little girl behind him, advancing on his hero to do such a thing wasn't the wisest course of action. So as he was about to turn to leave, green eyes watched the older man crouch down. There was a shy smile at how he belonged to Tony as if he were a possession but he didn't dispute it because there was no reason to. Truth was truth.

The rest of the smooth introduction had him keep his expression carefully neutral and he nodded but made no effort to move because he didn't wish to frighten her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alice. Ignis Scientia at your service." This came with a slight head bow but other than that he didn't move and kept his back against the table with the coffee pot on it.

"Oh, it's 1875, Queen Victoria has been ruling for 38 years now."

As Alice's hand was taken, she gripped Tony's in a small squeeze as he pulled her forward to meet Ignis but she did not otherwise resist. Standing properly in front of him, she offered a curtsy in greeting.

"How do you do, Mr. Scientia," she offered, though she didn't know what Tony had meant that Ignis "belonged" to him. Was Ignis a servant? He had a stern face, but he didn't seem particularly harsh. She gazed up at his hair, having never seen hair so blonde it could practically be silver. She realized, then she was still speaking French, and then blushed, shook her head and cleared her throat, switching back to English. "Oh ah, I beg your pardon. How do you do, Mr. Scientia?" she asked again.

Tony's eyebrows rose sharply at that date. That explained a few things.

"Isn't she cute with that curtsy?" He remarked with a chuckle, before turning his gaze on his S.O. Then he frowned. "Come on, Tiger, relax. Give the poor girl a smile. This isn't court." The reference that Ignis was 'his' had been mostly a joke, but it was amusing the man didn't dispute it. He'd get teased about that later.

For Alice, though, Tony gave another warm, gentle smile. "Sweetheart, you're going to learn that you can understand and be understood in any language so long as you wear your SCA- the device on your wrist. You heard me in French because you know French. When you speak it to someone who wouldn't know it like Ignis, he'll understand too."

Well they had another well mannered child here if that curtsy was any indication. Ignis figured they might get spoiled here regarding that at this rate. But nothing was said and he nodded to Tony before turning back to the girl. "There's no harm done, you've no need to apologize though it's very kind of you to do so." Maybe her manners could rub off on the older man because it certainly couldn't hurt.

Hearing his nickname brought him up short and Tony got a look from the advisor and he listened to what the hero was saying. And seeing the iron knight on the floor got a smile as he explained to the little girl about the SCA and how it functioned. It was just as endearing as when he did something similar with their daughter.

"Oh," she blushed, unaware that her switching over had been... well, rather meaningless. But at least it was nice to practice her French again.

"We're making brownies, Mr. Scientia, I've never had one before, have you?"

At her blush, he shook his head. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. You're just showing off how smart you are to our friend, Ignis, here. I think he's impressed." He flashed a grin at his beau.

God she was cute.

"You know, you're too cute to share a name with someone else. You need a name that's uniquely yours." He glanced at Ignis for a moment, like maybe the other man might suddenly hold up a sign with the perfect name on it. "Well.. you're the smaller Alice. What about Little Bit? Or.. uh, Mous- Minnie! Like Minnie Mouse. That's not really a thing where you're from yet, but it will be. Do you know who Minnie Mouse is, Tiger?"

Edited 2020-06-04 04:15 (UTC)

The advisor nodded to Alice with a small smile in acknowledgement. "Indeed. And you're fortunate to have our best baker on board making one for you." He was going to tell her that she could call him Ignis but maybe she needed to warm up to him first as Madoka had done. Whatever her comfort level was, he'd certainly respect it.

Minnie Mouse..why did that sound familiar..So he thought about it a little bit, furrowing his brow in thought. "Ah yes..a game called Kingdom Hearts with keyblades. She was the Queen if I recall correctly. Prompto played it."

Alice could only blush deeper, she honestly wasn't used to all this positive attention.

"Oh, w-well thank you, I've never heard of Queen Minnie Mouse, though... I've met other queens but never the queen of the mice. I suppose I should have, the lion is the king of the jungle, after all, so I suppose there would be a king and queen of the much smaller animals and they don't get much smaller than a mouse. I hope my being named after a mouse doesn't make Dinah wish to chase me about so."

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