Not likin' Avaleur so far...

[Deleted]

Grayson made chicken noises once more, but then stopped himself with a smirk. "Ah, whatever. I'm surprised ya even got this far, lil' baby." he laughed. He loved teasing her.

The two entered the pub. Grayson sat on a stool in the front and motioned for Alice to do the same. Not a single person batted an eye. "ya know, I'm surprised ya even agree'd to come 'ere. 'Cause ya know, your papa loves to drink, I heard. So it would only be natural for him to come to a place like this."

[Deleted]

Alice's eyes widened. "H-he does?! How often does he come here? Oh my gosh what if he's here now!" In a panic, she quickly scanned the pub, looking for Phillis. He wasn't there, but she was still nervous.

"How long do you plan on staying here..?"

[Deleted]

Grayson laughed loudly, swinging around in the chair. " For as long as I wanna!"

[Deleted]

"... And how long do you think that will be?" She said while rolling her eyes.

[Deleted]

"There ain't no fuckin' problem!" Grayson yelled, he had tried his best to restrain from swearing because his mother would scold him for it. Well, whatever, his mother wasn't around. "If ya see 'im, ya know what you're gonna do? Gonna look 'im right in the face and ask 'Well, what's the fuckin' problem? Ain't you here too?' It'll stop 'im dead in his tracks and you'll be off the hook. Got it?"

[Deleted]

Alice stared in shock, her blue eyes wide.

Did he just... Say that word..?

She thought for a moment, and then nodded. "A-alright. If you think that will work, then I probably will. But let's just hope he won't show up tonight.."

[Deleted]

Grayson laughed loudly. "Well, ya better, cause he's here!" he pointed across the room to Phillis. He was smiling and speaking to a group of people. It was clear Grayson had already known Phillis was there and then brought Alice along to see if she was truly 'chicken' or not.

[Deleted]

Alice spun around and stared in horror at Phillis.

This is not happening. He can't be here!! she thought. At the same time, she accidentally yelled, "Papa!" in surprise then clamped her hand over her mouth, hoping he hadn't heard it.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis had been taking a sip of his drink when he turned towards the source of the sound. He spit out his drink in horror, a bit dribbled down his chin. He wiped it away. "A-Alice?!" he was surprised. Once he gathered what was going on, his surprise turned into anger. "What is gods name are you doing here?!" he asked, storming toward her.

[Deleted]

Alice squeaked and shrank back, scared of the anger in Phillis' eyes.

"I-I-I- ... I w-was..." she stammered. Then she looked over at Grayson. He gave her an encouraging nod and she remembered what he had told her to say.

Turning to face Phillis again, she swallowed hard, took a deep breath and looked right in his eyes. "Well, w-what's the fuckin' problem? Ain't you here too?"

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis stared at the girl, his eye nearly twitched. "What did you just say?" he asked, calmly at first and then he got a burst of anger. "What are you doing here?!" he noticed Grayson and grew even angrier. "Why are you with him? And what in the world made you think swearing at me was a good idea?!" he took a deep breath, waiting for her to answer.

[Deleted]

Alice backed up, wanted to put distance between herself and Phillis. She looked to Grayson again for help, and briefly stared in disbelief when she saw him suppressing laughter.

He knew Papa would be here! That little.. she thought, not able to think of a bad enough word to call Grayson.

She looked at Phillis again and nearly yelped at how angry he was. "I-it was Grayson!" she said, pointing at the boy. "He told me to do it! H-he was calling me chicken and making chicken noises because I w-wouldn't do anything 'fun'. So I did and, and I'm s-so sorry Papa!"

[Phillis Von Christ]

"Alice, you can not push the blame on other people! It was YOU who decided to go along with the things he said!" Phillis took a deep breath. "I never want you to hang out with kids like that." he spoke as if Grayson wasn't there. But the boy didn't care. He just laughed which only made Phillis angrier.

" Is there anything else you want to tell me?!"

[Deleted]

Alice dropped her head in shame. She knew Phillis would be disappointed in her when he found out.

She was already in trouble, so she figured she might as well tell him the rest. "Y-yes. We... We stole a wallet off of someone on the street. I jumped on his back while Grayson grabbed it, then we ran away," she said in a defeated voice.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis stayed silent for a moment, trying not to yell and attract any more attention. "I'm really disappointed in you, Alice."

[Deleted]

"I-I know... I'm really sorry, sir." She still wouldn't look at Phillis, especially now that she was fighting back tears.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis sighed. He was already feeling bad for yelling at the girl. How was she supposed to know? Well, he wasn't going to let her off the hook, but he was much more calm now. "Don't call me 'sir' please. We're going home now."

[Deleted]

She nodded once and followed Phillis out the door without looking back at Grayson. She was angry at him for tricking her, but she knew Phillis was right when he had said she had no one to blame but herself.

[Phillis Von Christ]

Phillis offered a weak smile to Alice once they had left the building. He leaned down to her level. "Don't hang out with him, okay? He's a bad influence."

[Deleted]

"O-ok, Papa, I won't," she said, her watery eyes trained on the ground. "I-I'm really sorry... I shouldn't have done that. I-I promise it won't happen ever again. P-please don't kick me out of the castle!" She exclaimed, panic clear in her voice. After what she had done, she was sure Phillis wouldn't want her anymore.