No Rest for the Wicked [Nathalia]

[Kari Muffin]

Conway felt a trickle of concern and panic when he watched the Rabbit lock the door. He didn't like locked doors. They meant he was trapped. He did his best not to flinch when the rabbit spoke again.

He eyed the watch that was handed to him, and didn't have time to protest anything. He was suddenly standing up far straighter than he wanted to and was being instructed to do things. All right. He just had to stand up straight and turn the knob three times, what could go wrong? "Yes, sir," he said quietly and waited.

He turned the knob, three times to the left. His body froze, he had no time to register his horror as the sensation trickled up his spine. Everything went black.

It was a bizarre sensation as he became aware of himself again. Fuzziness like nothing he had ever felt before. He felt his body relax as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened. The ping made him jump slightly.

The Joker blinked a few extra times as he looked at the Jack and then at the watch. Was he not going to... take it back? He didn't seem interested in it. Choking back his anxiety and confusion he went to take a seat.

At least he was going to see George.

"Uh... Thank you."

[Nathalia]

The White Rabbit moved across the room to unlock the doors again, his expression neutral, his eyes flicking over Conway's body from tip to fake tail.
"Hmmm. Anticipated reaction. You'll note the lack of scarring and waste left on your body. Good. I've taken the opportunity to realign your field of planar existence. You ought to feel as well as you did before meeting with the King of Hearts."

He eyed the black paw.
"Either you acquired that unfortunate object prior to meeting the Hearts King, or its potency is beyond the ability of time to heal."
The comment was given lightly, as though the Rabbit did not much care for why the paw remained, sitting back down behind his desk and jotting notes.
He didn't look up at the Joker, but every now and then he would speak.
"You are younger, exactly one minute before you met the King of Hearts. None of the people you met in this time will know your name or face, you are a stranger to them now, you've been removed from the time line, Mr. Conway."

Ellen re-entered the room, pushing another tea cart, this time laden with tea and biscuits for the Jack, and a meat pie with some milk for the Joker.
The elderly Doe gave Conway a nod and a bright smile, then edged back out of the room, pausing to whisper something to the White Rabbit and slipping away.
He gave a curt nod.
"Take a seat and eat, please, or you will soon succumb to illness from the side effects. Your curse ought to have been removed. Any questions you have are better asked now."

[Kari Muffin]

Field of what? Conway suddenly felt like a complete idiot, but he felt better physically. Completely better. Normal. He briefly looked for the scar that had been carved into the chest by the King of Hearts. It was actually gone and he wasn't skin and bones.

At the mention of the paw he looked up from his amazement. "I've had it for a while," he provided quietly. He watched the rabbit take a seat again. The doors were unlocked. He felt a little bit of relief. At least he wasn't trapped completely.

Conway took to staring at the watch in his good hand, he slipped it in one of his pockets. It didn't seem like he was going to take it back for one reason or another. His eyes widened a bit at the explanation. Wait so... that was what he had meant? No one in the Court of Hearts would remember who he was because it had been like he was never there. That was fantastic. He didn't have to worry about the Queen of Hearts hunting him down. He didn't have to worry about that bastard and... oh dear, what about Conall?

His eyes wandered over to Ellen when she entered the room. He gave her a small smile in return, and a little wave.

He took a proper seat, feeling nothing but awkward about everything. An eyebrow perked at the mention of side effects. That was... not anything he had thought about. He eyed the meat pie. If he didn't have to worry about the curse he should be able to eat just fine. "I um... was wondering, are there going to be any unusual side effects I should be worried about? Like with shifting forms. Also is... my son going to be okay?"

He scooped up a forkful of meat pie and took a careful bite. Food. It was good again.

[Nathalia]

"A while? It's an interesting appendage, I should like to evaluate it further at a later date, Mr. Conway."
The White Rabbit muttered, half to himself, as he took down a quick jot and sipped at his tea.
The Jack gave the Joker a dubious look before glancing away as though mildly uncomfortable, adjusting his tie and reaching for a pen to make a note.
"Hmm. Children weren't an obstacle I had expected to run afoul of." He muttered, reaching out to the bookshelf and picking a small book, bound in black leather up carefully. Flipping it open, he read in silence for a few minutes as the Wolf ate, his expression blank.
His voice broke the silence just as there was a knock at the door.
"I'm afraid your son may no longer exist. It will require more research on my part. Excuse me."

Standing, he moved over to the door, opened it again, and moved back to sit down.
George stood, a little hunched in the doorway, his eyebrows knitted together with nerves. When the door swung inward, he flinched slightly, then realizing nothing awful was happening, he gave his friend a hopeful wave, eyes quickly flicking up and down Conway to make sure he wasn't missing any grievous wounds...
"You...look better?" He asked, hopefully, glancing towards the White Rabbit, who ignored him.
"I...c-can I offer you a real dinner, Conway?"
He jerked his head very slightly, seeming to be trying to get his friend out of the room.
The Jack said nothing and ignored the pair of them.

[Kari Muffin]

He didn't like the sound of "evaluate it further." Corvies said that. The Queen of Hearts had said that once. It normally ended with someone poking him and finding out very little.

Conway was hardly thrilled by his bastard son. The poor boy had been hit with the ugly stick, but he didn't deserve anything bad to happen to him. The Joker was taking a sip of milk when the Jack spoke again. He nearly choked in surprise.

No longer exist?!

He choked back the whimper that wanted to bubble up. Oh no, he had done something horrible by agreeing to this. He had wiped his son out of existence. This made him the worst parent in history didn't it? In distress he bit his lower lip as he watched the Rabbit go about his business as if nothing was really wrong.

When George entered the room he snapped out of his tiny angst fit.

"Yeah I'm... better," he said as he took a deep breath. It was hard to miss George wanted something with the way he was acting. And considering he was talking about a "real dinner" it didn't involve sticking around with the White Rabbit. Considering the way the rabbit was ignoring them now it would probably be safe to leave anyway.

"Right, that sounds like a great plan," Conway said as he stood up, more than happy to follow George out of the room and not think about what had just happened.

[Nathalia]

George gestured the Joker out of the room and shut the door carefully behind him.
A thin, wiry-looking Tulgey Leveret with a goatee paused and looked up at the pair.
A grin crossed its face.
"Best get ye' to the kitchen, or it'll be a pain if I overhear what you say, eh, Georgie?"
"Victor, please...not n-now." George muttered, edging down the hall, glancing back and urging Conway on until they were passing by a hallway Conway might remember from his previous trip to this Warren.
The hall down which lay George's room and the guest room where he had stayed the night.

The walls were still decorated with small, painted pictures and, though many doors were shut, those that were open displayed at least one small shelf of books.
George led him down three winding tunnels until they came to a thin, white door, pushed easily open into the kitchen.
It was empty of Rabbits, but there was a kettle sitting on the stove, a small plate of sandwiches, and the refrigerator hummed pleasantly.
"You were a coffee, p-person, right?" He asked, hesitantly, not sure how to treat his friend as he had no clue what the man had gone through...nor could he quite shake the image of Conway as a frightened-looking woman from his brain.
Quashing that last thought as best he could, he began grabbing for plates and bowls and pulled the sandwiches closer.
"Conway? Please tell me you're all right?" He asked, then hesitated, a puzzled look crossing his face. "B-bu only if you really are...right?"

He wanted to ask what had happened.
He wanted to to ask what his Master had done.
He wasn't sure what would be allowable.
"Did he hurt you?" He asked, quietly, pulling the door to and gingerly pulling a small watch from his pocket, hanging it on the door. The door turned an odd-off-blue color. "No one can hear...for two minutes, anyway. Are you all right?"

[Kari Muffin]

Conway quietly followed George out of the room, frowning at the Leveret when he spoke. He didn't like him. Not like Conway liked that many people to begin with. He eyed the leveret briefly before following George as fast as he could.

It was nice to be in a somewhat familiar place, but not by much. He was still uncomfortable, how couldn't he be? He eyed his surroundings in silence, and just hoped that the kitchen was a safe place to be. Nothing seemed particularly threatening in the hallways, but it was less the place and more the secrets that were unnerving.

He gave a small sigh of relief when the kitchen was empty. It would be just them, and he wouldn't have the chance to stare or feel awkward.

The question almost made him jump. Right. Food. Drink. "Coffee works, though if you have any juice I'd take that instead."

George really was worried. His words made Conway fidget, playing with the broken watch that was now in his pocket. What in the name of the suits had the White Rabbit done to some of his previous guests? No, he wasn't going to think about that.

"I'm fine really I um...." he watched as George closed the door and ask if the White Rabbit hurt him. His eyebrow raised as he watched the door change color. All right then, at least they could talk safely.

"I'm okay. I'm actually better than I was before," He said as he unbuttoned the top of his jacket revealing that lack of scarring. He small grin appeared on his face only briefly. There was still the matter of his son. He tried his best not to look too distressed. After all, Conall could be fine. Which he doubted but there was still hope. "Whatever he did may have done something awful to my son. I don't know what to do... it's not like I can waltz back to the palace and check up on him."

His brow furrowed as he looked at his friend. "How long was I in there anyway?"

[Nathalia]

George scrambled for the orange juice instead.
Conway had been through...a lot, judging by his appearance before Master had taken care of him.
He deserved whatever he liked.
Filling a glass, he handed it to the Wolf, looking ill at ease, and continuously checking to make certain his spell on the door didn't falter.
"I'll make some coffee too, just in case." He muttered, half to himself as he busied himself with the pot and setting the food over next to Conway.
It wasn't hard.
He served food to Master just as often as Ellen and Victor, he knew what to do; especially when there were guests. Master liked to show off his "vicious, captured Card servant on a small few of those occasions, as opposed to his ancient Doe or obviously male Leveret.
He could do it with style, if he pleased.

Conway's statement of being fine did little to convince George of its truthfulness...his friend's willingness to speak expanded at the idea of not being overheard increaing this feeling.
"I say that I'm fine a lot, too, Conway. I've found that th-the term often means...little."
Better? Better was relevant, he supposed, and the man did look more fit and less...old, less bedraggled...a bit more like George remembered him, though still older than...he would have expected.
He watched the Wolf's actions, trying to discern what he might really be feeling, but in vain. He really didn't see enough people often enough to know, especially not with other Cards.
He balked at the next idea.
"Your son?" An image of the piteously ugly boy flashed across George's mind. "Master says he is not fond of causing injury to the innocent...maybe it isn't too bad?" He observed Conway again, realization dawning on his face. "He turned you back...didn't he? Made time crawl the other way? He... M-master is-. Master is good with time." His thoughtful expression dropped to a rather unhappy one.
The logic of what might have occurred hit him.
"How old was your son?" He asked, trying to keep the mood casual, while his heart rate sped up.
"Ah, you were in there for m-maybe two hours? I think?" He picked up a finger sandwich and chewed absently.

[Kari Muffin]

Conway looked downright ecstatic when he was handed the juice. He happily took a swig. It tasted good. The thought of eating didn't make him ill. He could have cried with joy if he wasn't actually having a conversation.

"Thank you," he said with a chipper note as George made the coffee. It was nice not having to make tea for the Queen of Hearts, or having to deal with the King either. Though the surroundings weren't fantastically hospitable they were better than the Court of Hearts by miles.

Conway frowned a bit at the "fine" comment. Well, now he knew what that word meant for George. It was slightly discouraging. Only slightly. Between explaining what was going on he grabbed a sandwich or two to properly nibble on. Being able to eat again was like a miracle. It was almost too good to be true.

He couldn't help but wonder silently if there was a catch. Nothing was ever for free.

"Yeah, that's what he did." Except the rabbit had used bigger words during his explained. George's way was better in his opinion. His brow furrowed a bit more as he watched his friend. The tiny bit of reassurance was quickly squashed.

He titled his head slightly, "He was three going on four. He um.... the White Rabbit turned back my time to before I met the King of Hearts. Conall was a result of... uh..." Conway bit his lower as he looked at his friend trying to think of the right words. "The nightmare that man put me through."

It took all of his will power to suppress an unhappy shudder. He drank his juice instead. His eyes widened slightly at the amount of time he had spent in the Rabbit's study. "Two hours? That long? No wonder you were worried."

[Nathalia]

Seeing his friend look this happy about eating made George wonder just what kind of curse the King of Hearts had put the Joker under...
Hearts...
Hearts were bad news, unless they were Mr. Whip.
Then, they were awful.

There was an awkward silence, George finished his sandwiches and gazed at the floor before Conway spoke again.
"T-turning back time is...dangerous. If he took you back to before your son was born..." George let the sentence hang on the air.
Then, gave the far wall an aggrieved look, he didn't want to comment on this King of Hearts...he didn't want to know about why or how Conall was that man's child.
"I was worried...but the spell on this door won't last m-much longer. If you have questions, ask them now. And then..."
He bit his lip.
"And then, I'll g-go check on your son."
He finished, his stomach twisting into a knot.