wanderamaranth | Taste and Scent (Reply)

AiW Fic.

This is a one-shot for right now, but is practically begging me to continue it. I may, or I may not...

Disclaimer: I don't own and will not be making profit off of Alice in Wonderland, etc.

Rating: T, for implied naughty.

Summary: To Alice, there is something almost erotic about the way a pear smells.

Inspired by niphuria 's "Delicious Flavors" ---->go here to read that story. (Rated M)

There was something almost erotic about the way a pear smelled.

Alice would never admit this, of course, but she still thought it. The faint earthy tang of the skin and the sweetness that hinted at the taste that lurked underneath set her pulse to racing and her mouth watering. She shivered as she stared at the innocent fruit before her, and then lifted her gaze up to the man holding it. His smile was wide as it ever was, but today only the hint of his teeth shown from underneath his lips. A glimmer of white, all the more desired for the hesitant appearance.

She accepted the fruit from his palm with the faintest of blushes upon her cheeks. She knew the man would not know the reasoning behind her embarrassment; better for him to not. Her fingertips grazed his palm as she picked it up, and she wondered if she imagined the slight intake of breath she heard when doing so. Looking up at him, his gaze clear green and unwavering in its innocent confidence, she knew she must have, and questioned herself as to why she should wish to hear such a thing.

How long had it been since she'd had a pear? This one was almost too large for her grasp, and purple-skinned, to boot, but was the same comforting weight that pears had always had in her Above world. Thumb swirling once near the stem at the top, Alice took a deep breath and brought the pear close to her lips. Her mouth was opening in preparation to take a bite when she inhaled deeply, and was struck once again by the smell.

Eyes fluttering shut, her half-opened lips rest gently on the unbroken skin as she took another deep breath, allowing herself to savor the moment. She was sure of her companion's small strangled gasp this time, but she didn't care, too far gone in the promise of what was to come. She took one more shallow breath before opening her mouth the rest of the way and delicately, slowly, sinking her teeth into the side of the pear.

It wasn't quite ripe enough to bite into easily. She had to dig her teeth harder than she expected to break the skin, but when she did she was rewarded by the sweet juice hitting her tongue, and the mellow flesh practically melting down her throat.

After that all thought was lost in the rapturous rending of the fruit, her first small, almost lady-like bite the last of such she took. Eyes slipping shut, she devoured the large purple pear quickly, her movements only slowing when one of her greedy bites caused her to come away with seeds in her mouth. Briefly she contemplated spitting them out upon the ground, but decided against that and instead swallowed them whole. She lowered the hand holding the pear away and took a deep, cleansing breath before her eyes slid open drowsily, feeling as though she had just awakened from a marvelous dream.

Blinking her eyes a few more times, the man before her came back into focus just as Alice remembered he was still there. The way she flushed this time was not faint in the least; she felt it bloom full-force across her face and down her neck, even going so far as to linger on her chest.

His mouth was open in the smallest 'o'; the rest of his face was curiously slack. Alice fancied she could see his body almost shrink into itself as he exhaled slowly through that 'o', his unblinking eyes never leaving her face. He was as still as a statue, albeit much more colorfully adorned than one.

The wind blew gently from behind him, carrying traces of the man's scent to Alice's eager nose. Tea was predominant, a rich black pekoe that was simple, and unapologetically so; this was coupled with the acridity of ink. Hiding underneath those two top notes was a hint of sweetness, sticky honey mellowed by the smooth comfort of heavy cream. Alice's mouth watered once again, and her mind flittered over the idea that her companion's smell was not incomparable to that of the fruit she'd just partook.

Juice dripping from her fingertips woke her from this contemplation as she became terribly aware of the silence between them.

"Thank you for the pear, Hatter." Alice said, very quietly. Curtseying, (and why she was doing something so formal she had no idea,) she then turned and ran towards the safety of Marmoreal's walls. The fruit's core slipped from her grasp as she bounded away.

"You are…most welcome, Alice." Hatter replied, as he was left wondering what, exactly, had just happened.