Lessons for Alice

"I told you, that's not really a thing. Father dickface having multiple wives is weird. And my girlfriend, had she known, probably would have kicked me in the balls, and dumped me." Luc replied, "Especially because it was with her younger sister."

She gave a tiny smile, "You were right. I can't see you the same way. That was a really horrible thing to do, Luca."

"You're a right shit." The hairdresser commented, "You cheat on this pretty little thang, and she has my permission to cut your nuts off."

Luca coughed, "Eh... Not my girlfriend. We're family."

"Oh." The hairdresser chuckled, "Really?"

Alice smiled sadly, "Yeah. We're family."

"And family looks out for each other." Luc said reassuringly, "Though, I suppose I'm still the villain of this story. All you did was steal a journal and help a few girls work out some sexual frustrations with it. You were selfless. I was selfish, and risked ruining a family if they found out."

"You didn't confess?" Alice asked urgently.

Luc shook his head, "Not really. I did tell her I cheated on her, and that was why I was breaking up with her. But I never told her who. I lied, said it was just some girl I met when I was out with friends. She didn't believe me."

"I... I can't even imagine what Father Thomas would have punished you with." Alice whispered and then winced, "But that's the point, isn't it? He's out of my life. Not everything is a sin. And not everything needs punishing."

"Your friend deserves to be punished." The hairdresser commented.

Alice bit her lip and then asserted herself, smiling brightly again, "No, he doesn't. He saved me, when no one else would. The past... Should stay in the past. That's a better world than I could get. Luca is still kind. He deserves a good wife."

The hairdresser glanced at Luc in confusion, and he shrugged, not feeling like getting in to explaining the cult that Alice had just escaped from.

His cousin sighed, "I know it probably doesn't have pleasant memories, but it is... Distracting. Um... Is there a reason you cheated? A good one?"

"There's no good reason to cheat." Luc disagreed and shook his head, "But I'd say it probably happened... Because... Well, her sister was jealous, and I was a prick who thought it'd be nice to be able to have more sex coming my way."

Alice smiled sadly, "Different world... Father Thomas used to choose a new bride whenever he got bored. However, he was being kind. Sharing himself with a new lucky woman. Out here... How did you put it? It makes someone want to knock his teeth out?"

"Your Father Thomas sounds like he needs an emergency castration, honey." The hairdresser said as she clipped away, "He the one who made you wear this... Thing?"

"My robe? Kinda." Alice said tightly, "We all wore them. Well, apart from Father Thomas' wives. He bought them dresses from out here. Dressed them up so everyone knew who the special ones were. Me, being the bad girl, meant I only got handmedown robes. But Luca's going to take me dress shopping, next!"

He smiled at how excited by that prospect she sounded. It was also nice to know she'd been at least somewhat exposed to fashion. A dress as the mark of the honoured and special ones. Luc was going to try his best to make Alice feel like she was spoiled.

"Mhmm. You two sure you don't have anything going on? How distantly related are you?"

Alice flushed red, "I'm his cousin. He... We had spoken once, ten years ago... But when he heard I was in trouble... He saved me. I love him."

"Oh, honey." The hairdresser said with a voice full of warmth, "You've had a real rough turn of things, haven't you?"

"My parents raised me in a cult. So, yeah." Alice burst into tears again, but she was still smiling brightly, "But that's in the past now. And the past belongs to the past."

Luc blinked at the repeated phrase, "Something the cop told you?"

"Yeah, she was sweet. A good wife for someone lucky." Alice smiled, "But... I'm... Feeling a bit... Down? Can we talk about something... Not me?"

He frowned, "Nah. Rather talk to you about what things you like most. I mean, we're buying you an outfit and stuff, but do you have a favourite food? Drink? Do you remember movies?"

"Like... Hobbies, and things?" Alice frowned, thinking intensely, "I didn't get a lot of free time. Especially after I got into the Black Book. I think... I like writing. And reading. Mostly... Romantic stuff."

"The cinema has a new romance, that's half decent." The hairdresser mentioned. "Young woman moves to a country town, falls for the gruff barkeep. Usual stuff, but it plucks at the heart strings."

The woman gave a tiny shake to her head, "I don't... Really want to try movies. Not yet."

"We might swing by a library, or something." Luca shrugged, and looked at the hair curled into a river on the floor, "How are you going?"

The hairdresser nodded, "We're very nearly done. How often do you wash your hair?"

"Every day, morning and night." Alice answered with a small smile, and Luc wondered just how proud she was of her hair. Being the only core tenant of the cult that he could remember, she probably got a huge kick out of it being appreciated.

That pride was something that he should probably help her keep. Change it from being an act of worship, to an act of self love. There was no question it was part of her beauty, she was a veritable Rapunzel. Helping her to grow into her own person would be a long road, but this was somewhere they could start from.

... Not that Luc knew a single damn thing about living with long hair.

"Done!" The hairdresser announced, "How about you take five, hon? I'll be at the register when you're ready."

Luc smiled at her, "Proud of you."

"Th-thanks." Alice stammered and looked at herself in the mirror as she started habitually re-braiding her hair. The silky strands slipped expertly through her fingers as she turned her head back and forth.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head, "N-no... Not as such. It's... I really feel like a bad girl. Like I'll be sent to bed with no dinner, because I offended God by cutting my hair... But... I can't see a real difference. No mark of a sinner. It's... I kinda half expected a storm cloud over my head or something."

"Maybe God can see your beauty." Luc found himself saying, before kicking himself. The statement was clumsy, insensitive, and probably inappropriate.

Alice glanced at him, took a deep breath and whispered, "Un... Comfortable."

"Yep. Regretted saying it." Luc winced.

Alice focused in on braiding her hair. Luc didn't really know what to say to her. They were virtual strangers, and the world that she had come from wasn't a world that he found to be even slightly familiar.

He shrugged, "Uh... Ready to go? Forget about your clumsy and dumb cousin by buying yourself a dress that would make any woman jealous?"

She grinned, snapping the last pin into place and stood up, "Sorry. You... Told me to... Say. If I was uncomfortable. Sorry."

"I did, and I appreciated that you did. That half-assed mumble was meant to be my apology, whilst trying not to make a big deal of it. I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable." Luc replied calmly, "How can I make it up to you?"

Alice looked back and forth furtively before leaning up on her toes and kissing his cheek, "I love you. Thank you. For this, and everything else. So... Help me pay?"

The hairdresser and Alice had got along fairly well, despite the latter being frightened as a rabbit in crosshairs. Luc had to confess he didn't know if his little sister would be a good fit to help Alice readjust. Sophie wasn't exactly known for her patience, and her attitude of all-men-are-dicks would probably rub Alice up the wrong way.

He'd have to think of another way to help his timid cousin find some friends.

---

Alice's jaw dropped and her eyes grew as large as saucers as they got to the clothing store. Luc couldn't help but chuckle at her, "Take it, you don't remember clothes shopping from the before times?"

She wordlessly shook her head, and grabbed his arm as she went dizzy and nearly fell over. Luc grabbed her to help balance, and frowned, "Oh crap. Uh... When did you last eat, Alice?"

She closed her eyes tiredly, holding the side of her head, "Um... What? Oh... Um... I had an apple at the police station."

"And before that?" He asked with a sneaking suspicion.

Alice looked at him blearily, looking completely run down and burnt out. "Couple days?"

"Shit." He cursed, "Well, you're exhausted. We'll grab you something to eat before we do the rest. And we'll try and be quick, 'kay?"

"You swore." She murmured tiredly, basically collapsing into his arms.

He led her to the food court, with her leaning into his chest the whole time, and sat her down at a table. He let her know he'd be back soon, and her head dropped onto the surface.

Luc grabbed her an apple juice, and a buckwheat sub. One to get her energy levels back up instantly, and one to make sure that they would stay there.

The fact that she didn't know that it was unusual for someone to skip meals for days at a time was extremely concerning. No wonder she was impossibly light. There was no good reason to half starve a grown woman in a country with plenty.

He had tried to be quick about things, but apparently he hadn't been quite quick enough.

There was a typical, first-year uni, angry atheist standing tall over Alice. There was always one. Someone who felt the need to lambaste anyone so much as wearing a cross, and here his cousin was wearing cultist robes in the middle of a food court.

Alice wasn't exactly an intimidating figure to begin with, whereas this guy was built like he was made for rugby. Yet, despite being twice her height, thrice her width, and standing over a sitting and fragile girl, he was feeling the need to scream at the top of his lungs.

"- fucking virus! People like you are the reason that the world can't move forward! Stupid cunts who have to worship the sky and tell us all that we're going to hell!"

Luc grabbed the guy's elbow, and gave as calming a smile as he could. The guy shook him off and shoved him, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the state appointed guardian, for this young woman, who just managed to run away from a cult, that's been hurting her since she was a kid." Luc half-lied.

The man's face took on a moment of confusion.

Luc shoved him back a step, "People like you, are the reason people can't leave. Don't want to leave. Time to walk away, asshole."

"I'm not the asshole, here!" The guy yelled loudly, "It's not my fault. I didn't know she was okay."

"Well, she's really not now." Luc rolled his eyes, and sitting down. Taking Alice's hand and squeezing it. Looking at her statue-like pose and the tears rolling down her face.

"I'm not the asshole." He muttered again, before sheepishly walking away. Head hung down and still talking to himself under his breath.

Luc pressed the drink into her hand, "Sorry. Some people... Mistake hate for caring. They tend to either grow out of it, or end up surrounded only by people who amplify what they already believe and get worse."

She nodded quietly, and opened the drink with shaking hands. Sipping at it and squeezing her eyes shut.

"We can go home, now, if things were too much." Luc offered.

Alice shook her head quickly, and whispered, "Dress. I... I need a dress. Not want. Need."

"How do I distract you, this time...?" He mused, and then smiled, "Ah. Coffee. It was a treat you got from one of the wives, sometimes, right?"

Alice nodded, "Yes. Um... Don't buy me another. Please. Don't leave."

"I wasn't going to. I was going to say, that I've actually got a few coffee machines at home." Luc smiled at her, "I've got a single button machine for making something when I'm lazy, but I've also got a filter drip machine, and a French press, for when I want something nicer and feel like putting in the five minutes of effort."

She blinked and stared, "Is that... Normal?"

"Most people in these parts probably only have the one." He shrugged. "Or only drink instant, which isn't quite real coffee, but close enough."

Alice gave a small laugh, "I can't really remember if we had one. I mean, before everything. But as a kid I remember despising the taste of coffee, so I didn't pay attention... But three seems... An unnecessary excess."

Luc struggled not to laugh at the way she phrased it, smiling happily at her. She seemed to have bounced back from that small trauma quick and easy. Hopefully it was more than just surface deep.

"Eat the sandwich, I'm not having you collapse, again." He prompted her, and she started, "Did you get that for me?"

He shrugged, "... Yeah?"

Alice blushed deeply and picked it up delicately in both hands before giving a tiny nibble to the end of it. "Th-thanks."

"Did I just do something weird or uncomfortable?"

She shook her head, "No... It's... Men don't do that. Um... A good wife takes care of her husband."

"Well, just to shatter your idea of gender roles, I was planning on cooking for both us, tonight." Luc smiled at her.

Alice's mouth fell open and she stared at him, "You... Know how to cook?"

"Even if it weren't normal, which it is, how would I feed myself if I live alone with no wife?" Luc asked curiously.

Alice shrugged, "I dunno. You said you had a little sister? I thought, maybe, she'd drop food by..."

"Pretty sure my sister would threaten to cut my dick off if I ever expected anything like that." Luc laughed, "She's not big on the patriarchal thing. Neither am I really, but she gets angry about it."

His cousin's eyes welled up, on the verge of tears, "You... You don't... Like it, when a wife takes care of her husband?"

"I don't like the expectation." He tried to smooth it out, "Everyone likes it when someone else takes care of them, or at least most of the time. The expectation that someone should, is the problem."

She gave a ragged breath, "Expectations. I... C-can we talk about those? I... I have no idea what you expect of me, anymore."

"Nothing?" He shrugged, "I don't expect anything from you, Alice. I might do something like ask you to help set the table, but it's only a request. I'll never order you to do something. Well, maybe if you're in danger, I guess. But I'm just giving you the space to learn to be you, again. I don't expect you to do anything at all, until you're at that point."

Alice bit her lip, "Um... Okay. Uh... What about... Sleeping arrangements?"

"I've only got the one bed, so I'll be sleeping on the couch." He said, and then when she didn't seem to get it, "You'll get the bed."

"No!" Alice protested instantly, "I can't take your bed. No. I... I can't do that to you."

He shrugged, "We can come back to that one, when we get in. I expect you're going to want an afternoon nap after all of this crap."

"I... Guess. But um... What about sleeping?" She hesitated, and then when he didn't understand, scratched at her cheek, "I only have the robe and I'll maybe have a dress?"

"We can get you a nightie or something when we get the store." He shrugged.

Alice took a deep breath, "I... I used to be... Expected to sleep... Without anything between me and God."

"Oh." Luc felt a raging hatred bubbling up again, "Uh... That would be a little awkward for me. But, I suppose if it's what you're most comfortable with, and you close the bedroom door, it won't be a big deal. Lots of people do. Not mainstream, but not that unusual."

She nodded and gave a small smile, "I... It's more comfortable. Sorry. I know, I should be the good -"

"Alice." Luc cut her off, "You don't need to explain anything. Justify anything. Tell me how it is, I'll probably just accept it. None of this... Good wife, bad girl, stuff. I can't see how you're bad. I just can't. You're practically a saint."

She shook her head, "D-don't do that. I... I want to be a good wife."

"Whoever you marry, is going to brag that you're an amazing wife." Luc replied calmly, "I mean that, Alice. You're kind, and considerate. A little bit too innocent, but you have the time to grow. You don't need to be rushing out and finding a husband."

Alice looked disappointed with his answer, and went back to eating. He let her. She needed to eat and keep her energy levels up, or she'd crash again before they were done.

Any misunderstandings could come undone later. Right now, his first priority was helping her make it through the day.

---

Dress shopping was more of an interactive experience than Luc had expected. He'd thought that with a budget number in mind, she'd go off and find something she thought was beautiful. Try on three or four things, and then they'd be done.

She didn't know clothes shopping, so he hadn't expected the usual massive look at every item that women seemed to be able to do.

Alice did have a preference for bright coloured clothes, but she wanted his input on all of them. Not just spoken input, either. She watched his face, and if he found it a little garish, then she immediately dismissed it as a possibility.

A full two hours after they got to the first store, found Alice looking between just two dresses and biting her lip.

The first was modest and conservative, without seeming unfashionable. It was a burgundy that cascaded down to the ankles, with a bow around the waist that tied up behind. The top half of the dress had little floral etchings in it, and hung over the shoulders.

The second, was more out there. It only had one shoulder, a black strap that curved around to hug at the cleavage it was trying to accentuate. Between two sashes of deep purple was an almost transparent black mesh across the stomach. Below the bottom sash was a high-angle cut skirt, coming very close to revealing Alice's ass when she'd tried it on.

Luc was kind of surprised that his cousin was having difficulties choosing between the two. Even though he'd actually seen it, he was still struggling to picture her wearing the second one, as much as he had loved it.

"What's your thinking?"

Alice frowned, "This one feels comfortable. I could wear it every day. But this one... It... It feels like telling Father Thomas to shove a sock in it. That though I might feel... Exposed... I'd finally be free to be... Me."

"You could afford both." Luc pointed out reasonably.

She shook her head quickly, her long braid swaying with her, "I couldn't! They're so expensive!"

"A hundred dollar dress isn't that expensive." He shook his head, "And it's your money. You don't need to feel guilty about spending it. I gave it to you, expecting you'll end up spending all of it. Don't try and save it."

"It's your money." She whispered. "Sorry, I... I can't. It's not mine. I feel... Guilty. Uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable spending more than I absolutely have to."

Luc put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed lightly, "Would it help if I make the decision for you?"

"Y-yes." She said hesitantly, looking down in shame.

He picked them both up and took them over to the counter, "Both of these, please."

"Luca!" Alice exclaimed, "That's not what I meant! It's... Too much. I can't repay you."

"Never asked you to." He smiled at her.

The cashier gave a little giggle, "Sorry if this is rude, but you two make the cutest couple. Getting things together for a date night?"

Luc shook his head, "We're family. Just trying to rebuild her wardrobe after a bit of a disaster."

Alice blushed furiously as she walked over slowly, "Date night? We look like we're dating?"

"We don't get a lot of comfortable guys in here." The cashier replied, as she started removing security tags, "The confident ones tend to be giving their girlfriends a treat. Sorry if I offended you."

The blonde swallowed, "He is kinda cute, isn't he? We're... Not that closely related. I'm not offended. He'd make a good husband."