[center][i]*~*Collaboration Between Ghost Shadow, YoshiSkittlez, Guardian Angel Haruki, Tanderbolt and Vicier*~*[/i][/center]
The rest of the journey remained almost awkwardly silent, with Edric saying especially little aside from pointing out [i]especially[/i] unusual elements of Wonderland or giving proper directions (blasted talking flowers have as much a penchant for mischief as they do for gossip). 

Just as the day was clearing and night was coming closer (a strange notion considering the Sun [i]and[/i] Moon were both in the sky at the same time), the small group passed through a foresty patch of grass that led to a small, comfortable clearing, centered by a large, cozy-looking mushroom, furnished with doors, windows, and a creaky chimney dutifully puffing smoke from a fire. 

A small smile crossed Edric's face at the sight. "Home..." He said aloud, a wistfulness to his tone that spoke of nostalgia and reverence. But apprehension took him. Alice was inside there...he had no idea how she would react, how she would feel. Would she embrace him or attack him? Shun him or welcome him back into her life with beckoning arms? Edric had no idea what would happen. But he didn't want to find out. 

And so he stood there, arm partially outstretched as if reaching for the far-away doorknob, completely frozen in place as fear welled up inside him. 

Shooting a sideways glance over to his friend (though still held onto a quiet bitterness towards the information he had learned about Edric that day) Jefferson came to a stop at Edric's side, turning his dark blue eyes back to the small little hovel he had practically spent half his childhood growing up in. His own home wasn't too far from here, but there wasn't any reason to venture there, nor did The Hatter have any desire to. He left that life behind when he and Grace packed up and moved to The Enchanted Forest after first losing Grace's mother, and then Alice.

Looking back to Edric, keeping his hands together back behind his back he noticed that the coward wasn't making any hasty movements (and probably never would) to take another step forward. Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet a bit, his lips parted ever so slightly, letting out a series of clucking chicken noises as he side-stepped around Edric until he was completely behind him. Then, taking a fluid step forward, he released his hands from one another and reached one out, grabbing Edric by the collar of the back of his shirt and started to push them both forward towards the house.

"C'mon Pussycat, it's time to lose your fourth life..."

Snow gave Jefferson an angry glare, but did not intervene further. She was annoyed that Jefferson had ignored her instruction to let Edric wait if he wanted to, she would have to confront him about that later.

"Wait, what!?" Edric demanded as Jefferson began pushing him towards the house. "No, no, I'm not ready!" He objected desperately, trying to dig the soles of his feet into the dirt ground to halt his progress, but he was never as strong as Jefferson was, even in youth. 

"No, no! Cease and desist! Off with his head! The clockwork's not ticking properly! May be crumbs in the butter! Let me go!" Edric continued to rant, immediately losing any semblance of sanity as he instead began shouting random phrases. Whether they were Wonderland jargon, an inside joke between the two of them, or absolute nonsense (see: Wonderland jargon) was unknown. 

Killian rolled his eyes at both Jefferson and Edric. He said to Edric after he shook his head, "Well, I'd rather not stay outside for the night. If you won't let your sister know we're here, I will," He then walked up to the door, putting on his most charming smile (that is sure to make any girl swoon), and knocked. 

Arriving to the front door just moments after Killian, Jefferson used his free hand to gently push the blacksmith aside, reach for the knob and turn it. Simultaneously, Jefferson pulled the front door open and pushed Edric forward into the house, shutting the door behind his friend and kept his hand on the knob for good measure. He'd give it two minutes.

"I have rights!!" Edric declared lastly before the door slammed behind him, leaving him alone in his house...with Alice. 

Looking around, Edric quickly took in that very little, if anything had changed furnishing-wise. Everything was back in its right place, everything was neatly organized and sorted just as it was...a fire was crackling in the hearth, a small tea set was set up on the dinner table and a variety of small dishes set around that. 

Edric ran his hand across the inner wall of the mushroom, the sensation coming back to him fondly. So many good memories. Yet he was still frightened. Frightened to face his past in the flesh.

Her soft pink lips parted a yawn slipping out as she lifted her arm up the back of her hand rubbing at the sleep that had formed in the corners of her eyes as she tried to figure out why it was she had come upstairs to the bedroom in the first place, she hadn't intended on having an afternoon nap but then again the Caterpillar had never been one to take anothers time schedule into consideration, especially when he wanted to talk to her. It hadn't been the first time his summons had caused her to wake up in a strange place while forgetting what it was she had originally been doing, and she was as sure as the tiny mole on her uncles left foots cousin twice removed and once divorced that it wouldn't be the last time it happened either.

Opening her eyes she turned her head looking over at the staircase as the sound of a slamming door floated up causing her eyebrows to furrow and her body to lift up from her bed the books she had been carrying up scattered over the ground from when she had passed out, leaving them and her thoughts behind she skipped across the room and down the stairs her body freezing and her stomach muscles tensing as she caught sight of her brother standing in the doorway looking around the room, "..Edric..?"

Turning his head towards the direction of the stairwell that trailed up to the mantle of the mushroom, Edric's eyes widened into practically the size of dinner plates as he stared wordlessly at his sister, his mouth moving but no words coming out. 

"A-Alice?" He finally managed to stammer out, completely flabbergasted. His posture was stiff, uncomfortable, though his eyes rapidly scanned her, as if testing to see that she was real. That she was there. 

"It's you..." He added in a hushed tone, a tinge of fear to his words. 

Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly as she let the gravity of the situation surround her body and mind her eyes not bothering to hide the fact that they were flicking about over his figure taking in everything she could about the man she used to be so close to, taking another step she tilted her head to the side her heart freezing in her chest as she hesitated in place for what felt like a lifetime before she kicked into gear her body bounding down the stairs quickly closing the gap between the two of them, "Edric!"

Closing her light blue eyes she lifted her arms up reaching out before she wrapped them around his neck pulling him close against her and into a tight hug her head dropping to bury into the nape of his neck, hunching her shoulders slightly she kept her body against his her arm muscles tensing as she kept her hold as strong as she could around him afraid that if she let go it would all just end up as another one of dreams, her mind tricking her into thinking that what was real wouldn't be and everything that wouldn't be would.

Edric, at first taken aback by shock quickly fell into his sister's embrace, unaware of the unshed tears of joy glistening in his eyes as he held onto her tightly, feeling whole, perhaps, for the first time in almost ten years. Here was his sister: older, taller, an [i]adult[/i]. He felt like it was just yesterday when he had mischievously hid her Bandersnatch plushie on the roof of their house when she was only six. 

The thought brought a grin to the young man's face as he felt everything else around him fade away, lost in the joyful reunion. 

Shaking her head slightly her nose brushed over his neck her eyes shutting even tighter than they had originally as she finally came to the realization that this was actually happening. He was really here... He was really here... Standing in the middle of the first floor of their house with his arms wrapped around her in a tight hug just like he used to back when she was just a child, before everything had gone wrong and they had been separated-...

Stopping dead for a moment she clenched her jaw her body stiffening as she pulled away from him taking a couple of steps back towards the staircase her normally kind eyes hardening slightly, "You left me... To die..." Turning away from him she let her eyes flick over what was around the room until they came to rest on a pile of books that she had neatened up earlier that day her arms reaching out to grab several of them before she turned angrily tossing them one by one across the room at where he stood, "You turned tail and ran from me! You're like a pathetic coward, you are!"

To say Edric had his dream shattered could definitely have been a fair statement at this point. One moment he had been embracing his sister, feeling as if all that had gone wrong was right again and that things would be better. To suddenly being pelted by a variety of fantasy novella written by Wonderland's own Walrus. 

"Alice, wait! Please! Let me-OW! Let me explain! Could you stop throw--[i]*thwack*[/i]--Gah! Who taught you to aim!?" These pleas, and more, came from Edric as each book managed to accurately hit him...usually in the face. 

Finding himself hating Walrus with a burning passion for writing such damn heavy books, Edric decided he [i]had[/i] to do something and, in a puff of smoke disappeared entirely, not a single sign of where he'd gone. 

"I know I was a coward, I know I ran away. Can't we just settle down and talk things through? If you want to beat me to a bloody pulp with the written word once all's said and done, I can't stop you." Edric's disembodied voice spoke up until he finally appeared on the stairwell, dotted with a few bruises from his encounter with literature. 

"You left me! I pleaded with you to help me, and you just left me to die at the hands of that witch!" Her voice grew louder and angrier with each word that she spat out at him her arms seeming to work on autopilot as she continued to assault him with some of her favorite stories that Wonderland had provided her while growing up, "I can't believe you! I trusted you! And you can thank the March Hare and the Duchess, cause they taught me everything I know about aim and what hurts the most when thrown!"

Lifting her arm up once more now that she was holding a particularly large book she yelled out in frustration as she watched him disappear the young woman throwing the book anyway letting the sound of shattering glass fade into the background as she searched around for him, "Again! Again you run from me like a coward! You're just proving my point on this matter [i]brother[/i]!" She spat the last word out before she managed to turn her gaze letting it finally come to a rest on him as he reappeared on the stairs behind her, "You betrayed me... And you want me to calm down and talk to you about it..? Are you insane? Even for Wonderland you're talking crazy!"

"Alice, I know you're upset, I really do -- and you have every right to be! I've regretted my actions for eight years...eight years I wanted to go back in time and take back what I did. But what else could I have done, Alice? You can't have expected me to take on the entire Queen's army, could you?" Letting out a sigh, Edric continued, 

"You're alive...that's more than I could have [i]ever[/i] hoped for in this life. But if I was there...if I hadn't run away...what would have changed?" He asked her sincerely, his voice no longer holding desperation; but emptiness. 

"This conversation for one." Her arms shook slightly as she balled her hands into fists at her sides her eyes never leaving his figure as she answered the question she knew he wasn't expecting her to have an answer for, "It was a mistake... But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you in the first place..."

Gritting her teeth she closed her eyes turning her head away from him for a moment before she sighed softly her eyes lifting back up to meet his showing the hurt behind them that had been put there by his past actions, "I used to advertise my loyalty to you to everyone, and I don't believe there is a single person that I loved more that ever betrayed me as much as you have..."

"Alice..." Edric began, rising from his place on the staircase and disappearing once again in a cloud of smoke before reappearing beside her. "I couldn't handle watching you die...it would have torn me apart. I ran because I was a coward...don't you [i]ever[/i] think I'd betray you. We're family." He tried reassuring her, though part of him knew his pleas were most likely falling on deaf ears. Yet there was sincerity to his tone as he tried to release the storm of conflicting thoughts and emotions that had been raging inside him for years, but trying to formulate order amidst the chaos. 

Shaking her head as she stepped back a look of slight disgust on her face she watched him disappear again only to this time reappear beside her trying his best to reassure her that he would never betray her though she knew in her heart that she felt differently, "What infuriates me most about this entire situation was the fact that I wasn't humiliated... Or annoyed... Or even fooled. No, betrayal was what I felt. My heart broken not just by a guy that I loved, but also by, as I once believed, my own brother."

Bringing her hand up she pressed her hand against her chest letting it sit rest over her heart her palm molding to the shape of her breasts moving up and down softly with her still angered breathing, "Stab the body and it will heal, but injure the heart and the wound will last a lifetime."

"I'm sorry things turned out the way they did, but I had little choice or say in the matter! Either watch you die or don't...if it's considered brave to see your sister murdered unjustly and in cold blood, then I'd rather be a coward." Edric replied coolly, his mouth twitching. He felt weak, defenseless, beaten up over and over for a situation that (he felt) he was unable to control or change. 

"My dear [i]brother[/i], you can't escape your past actions, and you can't escape the skeletons laying in your closet! They will always be there until you take them out from behind those dusty old moth-eaten coats!" Turning away from him she moved over to the stove as the loud high-pitched whistling sounded through the room alerting her to the fact that the water for the tea had boiled though for how long now she wasn't quite sure, "Your exterior facade of 'everything is alright' only works for a little while, and then the cracks begin to show! You can only hide behind yourself for so long Edric... You can't keep running!"

Two minutes almost on the dot and the front door of the mushroom house began to creak open a few inches until there was enough room for a singular, small head adorned with a lavish top hat to pop through. Turning his head left and right, taking in his surroundings until his blue eyes fixated on both Alice and Edric, Jefferson waited for half of a moment before pushing open the door just enough for his frame to slip through in one, exaggerated step.

"Still alive I see, unless she hasn't used up all your lives yet. In which case, I can give the two of you more time..." Jefferson stated plainly, using both his thumbs to gesture back out the door in which he had just come through.

Grabbing up the tea-towel she pulled the kettle off the hotplate moving it to the wooden bench so that it wouldn't evaporate due to the heat her attention being pulled away as the sound of a familiar voice filled the room causing her to turn her angered expression changing in the blink of an eye to one filled with happiness, "Why if it isn't dear old Hatter; do you now believe me when I say that I am live and well?"

Heaving perhaps the heaviest sigh of relief he ever had, Edric ushered Jefferson a look that both thanked him and pleaded for help that went (almost seemingly out-of-the-way) unnoticed by the Hatter.

"I believe...[b]ahem[/b]...that it is time for tea. Yes, that sounds perfect. Calming...nice...tea." Edric stated somewhat awkwardly as he practically scampered over to the dining table and collecting an ample amount of sugar cubes for his cup. 

"You know...this room could do with much less sharp objects, I think, quite. No one needs [i]pointy[/i] things around family!" Edric declared, quite literally taking any object that could potentially be used as a weapon against him and jamming them into his coat pocket, somehow gracefully. 

Beaming an ear-to-ear grin, Jefferson moved his hands back to his sides and crossed the distance between himself and Alice with a few quick strides, brushing past Edric and wrapping his arms around Alice in a tight hug paying no attention to the fact that she was trying to do something with a tea kettle. He lifted her off of the ground in his eagerness, hugging her tighter still as though that would answer her inquiry quite easily, but that did not deter him from speaking out (usually nothing could). 

"I didn't ever think I'd see you again Little Rabbit! But then again you wouldn't be the first to survive the Queen's Axe..." He said gently setting her down and tugging at the collar of his shirt where his scar had seemed to grow a bit hot from the memory, though still covered by his flamboyant scarf tucked neatly into his vest over his button-up shirt. "And here you are, just as alive as me and-" He pointed his finger in the direction of Edric. "that potted plant there on the sill. How clever of you to take up an interest in horticulture!"

Ignoring her brother completely as he began to rid the house of anything he deemed 'dangerous' which in her opinion was everything except the bandersnatch plushie that was still lost to her since the age of six, her hands slipped from the handle of the kettle letting the tea-towel drop to the ground at her feet as she lifted her arms up wrapping them tightly around his neck as he lifted her up into his embrace; another which she had missed over her years of isolation, "Hatter, I've missed you so much! I swear on the March Hare's obsession of straightened silverware, if I had of known that you were trapped in that witches castle, I would have done all that I could to get you out."

Relaxing her arms around his neck she let them slide down until her hands rested softly on his shoulders her smile brighening up her features as she followed his gaze over to the pot plant that was sitting on the window sill that had broken glass thanks to the book she had thrown earlier, "Oh... Yes, actually I have been looking into it a bit more than I used to since returning to Wonderland. All my old plants died, so after I gave them a proper funeral and burrial, I went out and gathered some new ones."

"Oh my, I should hope the Petunias weren't too upset. You know how emotional they get. And the Violets, don't get me started on the Violets. So self-centered they'd try and show off even at a funeral! Despicable." Edric piped up from the dining table, his pockets full to bursting with various knives, silverware, pincushions, fireplace tools and crumpets (hard as a rock when overcooked). 

Only hearing Edric's contribution to the already established two-way conversation faintly in the back of his mind, Jefferson simply looked down upon Alice (being a smidge over a head taller than she was) and kept his boyish grin.

"Don't fret, Little Rabbit." He said releasing his hold around her waist to tap her smartly on the nose. "I was only in there for five years; the time really flew, actually. You've got five years as a nun, and eight under the capture of The Dark One." Jefferson's body seemed to seize up in various places at the mention of Rumpelstiltskin, his shoulders wiggling and back arching awkwardly as though someone had dumped a bucket-full of ice down the back of his shirt collar. He had the entire walk over here to let all of what Alice had been able to tell him about their time apart for those little facts to settle, but still he seemed to have a hard time imagining having to practically serve thirteen years as a prisoner to the two most loathesome people he could think of. He had been subjected enough to the games of Rumpelstiltskin and Regina over the years. Then again, The Queen of Hearts, too, had her hot little hand in Alice's fate as well...

"Now..." He said, coming out of his body shivers and clapped his hands together, rubbing them a bit. "I was promised a hot meal?" He asked sounding hopeful, picking up their conversation where it had left off in dreamland. Only then did Jefferson turn his head to look at Edric, his eyes widening a bit as though he had just realized that he was there. "Well you're awfully rude. You have two more guests outside just waiting for you to let them in by invitation." He remarked and moved his hand in an exaggerated fashion for Edric to tend to the door, similar to that of a mother scolding a child.

Scrunching up her face slightly in a cute manner she let a soft giggle escape through her lips as she felt his finger press lightly against the tip of her nose her smile (if at all possible) growing even more than it had done the moment she saw him, "And a meal you shall have my dear, dear Hatter! It's the least that I can do after you came all this way just to tell me how much you miss me. However, first you will need to wrestle the silver-wear and other things from Edric's pockets, else there will be nothing to eat with."

Pausing for a moment she looked over towards the door before her gaze flicked back and forth between the two of them, "I have cooked much, but no more than for a tea party of ten... How many more have you brought to babysit me while you are here?"

"Let's see now...we have my friend, Snow White, who I believe is becoming something of an....Ice Queen, and a perverted blacksmith with a penchant for eyeliner and a fish hook for a hand. You'd think he came from Dodo's clique once you have a look at him." Edric explained whilst setting the table of assorted items, such as: books, forks, pocket watches, various condiments, broken tea cups and plates and an overabundance of sugar. 

"Speaking of Dodo, has that old sod bothered you since you came back?" Edric asked Alice in a semi-serious tone as he was in the midst of making a fork tower. 

Darkening his gaze a fraction towards Edric at his cut-off remark about Snow, it took most everything he had to keep from turning to face his friend completely, and instead remained by Alice's side and offered her a quick, reaffirmed statement.

"She's also the Queen of The Enchanted Forest... and your Storybrooke... if I understand correctly..." He said, glancing back at Edric for half a moment before looking back to Alice. "But more than that, a very good friend of mine that's helped me out in a number of tight spots." His attention once more was brought back to Edric. "For the love of- go let them in!"

"I don't really remember anyone called Snow in my time in Storybrooke, I must not have had the pleasure of meeting her..." Turning her head to look back over at her brother as he mentioned Dodo she bit her lower lip softly chewing on it for a few moments while her cheeks took on a soft shade of pink, she knew that he didn't really like the guy much and warned her against him on many different occasions, knew there was something going on between Edric and Dodo but whatever it was she had no clue as to what it was, "I... Uhm... Dodo was here, yes."

Pulling away from Hatter she turned back to the stove hurrying to busy herself with the food that she had been preparing all afternoon when she wasn't snoozing the time away in her bed upstairs, "He, uh... He sends his regards, and welcomed me back to Wonderland with welcomed arms..."

"Welcoming arms?! Dodo doesn't do [i]anything[/i] with welcoming arms!" Edric replied loudly, quickly sprinting towards any and every window there was and looking out of it carefully. "I'll be damned if a Collector comes around here and threatens [i]my[/i] baby sister." Edric hissed to no-one in particular. There was a distinct change in his posture, he became more stiff, paranoid, constantly looking behind him for signs of....something. 

Going to the front door, Edric quite literally yanked it open, stepped outside and dragged Snow and Killian in, one hand on each of them. "Close and lock the door, don't make too many noises and for the love of God, don't ask questions!" He ordered until finally feeling the job was done. 

With that being said, he went back to his over-sugared tea cup and promptly began adding more sugar cubes, almost obsessively. 

Jefferson's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, disappearing behind his thick mat of hair pressed down even further over his face by the weight of his substitute top hat and shook his head a bit at Edric's antics.

"Alright, that's one way to do it." He said to no one in particular as he stepped back over to the door and removed both his hat and jacket and hung them on their respected hooks at the entryway.

Killian had been waiting patiently outside, a little peeved that the Hatter had just simply shoved him aside in favor of the cat talking to his sister. After what seemed like forever, he was suddenly pulled into the house with Snow. When Edric gave them strange instructions, Killian asked him "What? Why? What's got you all riled up?"

Once they were inside, he looked around and he noticed Alice. He gave her a charming smile and he greeted "Ah, you must be Alice. It's nice to meet you, I'm Killian,"

Snow also walked in and introduced herself to Alice. "My name's Snow White, Edric has told me a lot about you. It's a shame it's taken us this long to meet." She had missed the conversation they had inside, and assumed that he only had positive things to say about her.

Rolling her eyes she tried her best to ignore the rushed and slightly crazed antics of her brother as he hurried about checking every window for what she could only assume was some sort of sign that Dodo and his men were out in the wildes waiting for the right moment to pounce, though why it was he was acting in such a manner was beyond her, “You’re mad. Worse than the Hare. You’re worrying for nothing Edric..! Dodo and his men wouldn’t threaten me, where you would get such a strange notion from is far beyond my comprehension. No, all he did while he was here was welcome me back home and offer to have me live with him so that he could take care of me, and so I would no longer be alone. I told him I would think about it and that was it, he left and said he would visit me again soon.”

"Perhaps not directly, Dodo was always a [i]slimy[/i] one." Edric replied, not even bothering to look at his sister as he was too preoccupied. 

Turning around just in time she scrunched up her face watching as he hastily opened up the door yanking two more people into their home before barking orders at them to be quiet and not to ask any questions about what was going on or what had gone on, “Seriously now, you’re being absolutely ridiculous…” Sighing softly she leant forward putting the food down on the table for everyone to see before her attention was drawn by the two new people speaking directly to her.

Pausing for a moment she smiled softly her eyes flicking from Killian to Snow and then back again as they seemed to introduce themselves to her at the same time giving her the option of whom to speak with first, reaching out she crossed her arms over one another each of her hands taking one of theirs into her grip as she smiled brightly, “Pleasure is all yours, I’m Liddell Alice. And I see what you mean, he does look like he would fit in with Dodo’s men!” Dropping Snow’s hand she spun herself around under the arm that was still holding tight to Killian before she moved closer to him her body lifting onto the balls of her feet as she brought her face close to his as though examining him, “Have we met before? You do look awfully like the man Dodo had searching Edric’s belongings early this morn.”

"Searching my [i]belongings[/i]?' Edric asked, lifting his head up to look his sibling in the eye. "A Collector was here and you weren't the least bit worried? When do Collectors show up? What usually follows? Disappearances, Alice! Then bodies found in The Tulgey Wood. What was he looking for, do you know?" He asked, keeping his gaze fixed on her. 

Rolling her eyes once more she narrowed them in annoyance turning her head to stare her brother down just in the same way he was doing to her, "Yes, a collector [i]was[/i] here. No, I was [i]not[/i] worried. And you want to know why..? Because I may be from Wonderland, but I am not as psychotic or paranoid as you're being right now!"

Lifting her shoulders up she shook her head thinking back over that mornings activities though she wasn't really paying attention, "I don't know what they were looking for. I was busy serving tea and mushcups to Dodo and the men that weren't helping me tidy up."

Taking in the scene before him, his blue eyes bouncing from person to person in such a rapid succession it looked as though they were no longer connected to his head, Jefferson breathed in a heavy, sudden breath of air and walked towards the table, keeping his attention fixed on what Alice had prepared for them.

"You served mushcups?" Jefferson asked, sounding almost deflated that he had missed out on one of his favorite snack items that Alice was known for making. He sat himself down at the table and proceeded to make up his own plate, using his arm to gesture towards Killian and Snow to come and join him. If he left the hospitality formalities up to Edric a moment longer, they would all starve sure as the moon smiled on Freejas month.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Edric took a moment to sweep his hair to the side before lowering his shoulders in an almost defeated stance. Of course no one would listen to him. Alice didn't even know Edric's connection to Dodo in the first place...and he wasn't ready for her to find out. Not yet. She was angry enough at him. 

Sitting down at the dinner table with his massively sugared empty cup of tea, Edric clasped his hands together, letting his fingers play with each other if only to keep him from succumbing to stillness. 

The 'blacksmith' smiled at Alice, silently reconsidering whether he should flirt with her or not. He had been intent on answering her question, but he never did as it seemed as though Alice had completely forgotten about her own question.

Killian noticed Jefferson's gesture and noticed the food on the table. He walked over to the table commenting out loud "From the sound of things...It sounds like there's some sort of [i]communication[/i] issue between you and the Cat here," He quickly shot Edric a look that clearly said that he should tell every other secret that he was still hiding now, when he had the chance. He soon sat down, and looked at the cup near his plate, wishing he had his flask of rum on him. 

Stepping back slightly as she watched Alice drop her hand before literally spinning herself into the blacksmith's arms Snow frowned, her attention turning from the pair to focus on the offer of a seat at the table and food to fill their empty bellies, "Hm, don't mind if I do. Thank you Jefferson."

Smiling softly Snow moved to an empty place careful not to disturb the three men already seated around the table as she took her seat her legs crossing underneath it, her body leaning forward and her eyes closing as she tried to lighten the conversation, "You know, it smells really good. Thank you Miss Alice."

"Oh, of course! Alice was always a fine cook." Edric replied, deliberately ignoring Killian for the time being. Who was keeping secrets about what from who was [i]not[/i] in a blacksmith's prerogative. 

"On a multitude of occasions, I nearly burnt the house down...one reason I never became a scientist. Wonderland has incredibly honed scientists, you see. 'All play and no work makes Jack a church-boy.' One of the many mottos of the scientific foundation." Edric explained wisely, though sounded slightly amused at his own absurdity. 

Turning her attention away from her brother for a moment Alice smiled brightly leaning across Jefferson as she nodded and gestured to the food before quickly picking something up with her fingers shoving it into Snow's mouth before she could say anything in return to her brother, "Of course! If it were left up to him, he would burn air. A feat in it's own I assure you... And trust me, he's managed to do it before!"

Standing back up straight she tilted her head for a moment seeming to focus in on something that wasn't even in the room before she dropped down into her seat reaching over only long enough for her to take Edric's teacup for her own, putting it down in front of her Alice held out her arms gesturing to the food, "Please, eat up! Or down! Whichever one you like best, or least; I can never remember which it is!"

A comfortable hum of conversation came over the table then as the group tucked in after getting the green light from their host, though Jefferson was already nearly halfway done with his first plate by the time the rest had begun to start. At least now, however, the small group from Storybrooke could rest easy for the first time since falling through that portal.