[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/KuIZYZy.gif[/img][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/376878751075794944/399977137999708160/New_Alice.gif[/img][/center]
While Alice didn't mean to fight with Emily, she felt horrible for causing such dismay. Calvin's words only made the feeling of guilt worsen as she left the party, making her way to the first floor resort. Instead of retreating to the theatre, the recon sat down by the fountain and started to hum to herself, as to try and calm herself down.

After finishing up with Faith, Ice headed down to Alice's room, hoping to find her there while his thoughts were preoccupied with his earlier conversation. But when she was no where to be found, he started getting antsy, his hand moving over the chain at his waist to calm himself. The Blood Donor knew she probably wouldn't be anywhere near the party, so he started going through the first floor until he finally arrived at the fountain. She didn't exactly look like she wanted to be disturbed, so he sat a little ways away from her and popped a candy out of his pocket. 

[Color=red]"I know you're worried about me."[/color] Alice spoke up, looking over to Ice. [Color=red]"Honestly, I'm alright. I just feel bad for yelling at Ms. Rishima."[/color] She sighed, [color=red]"I didn't mean to, but her self-loathing just irritated me, and I couldn't help but argue back."[/color]

A small rye smile slipped over his face, [color=orange]"Honestly, what she was saying perturbed me too, I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't say anything." [/color]He slipped into silence again, rolling the wrapper in between his fingers, [color=orange]"And I know why you left. We all needed to cool off before things got worse and I'd hate to ruin what Krista started."[/color] He shifted so that his body was facing her, still focusing on the wrapping, [color=orange]"The main reason I followed was because of what you said to argue back."[/color] At his last word, his eyes moved up to meet the Recon's.

[Color=red][i]"Look, I couldn't control what I said to her, okay? Just drop it."[/i][/color] Alice snapped at the blood donor, a hint of hostility in her voice. Once she had realize what she had said, the recon hid her head in her arms, mumbling a "sorry."

Before Ice could realize what he was doing, he had moved closer, grabbing onto Alice's hands and holding them in his own. [color=orange]"I-..." [/color]His momentum slammed to a halt and he looked down at there hands for a few moments, looking lost, then hurriedly let go. He let his hands rest stagnant on his legs as he starred down. [color=orange]"You have nothing to be sorry for, because I've been such an egotistial wanker these last few days, or even just in general, you can take me down a few notches. It's not my place to poke holes at anything when I've been giving you the cold shoulder."[/color] He brought a leg up and held onto it, resting his chin against his knee. [color=orange]"So I guess that's the best apology I can squeeze out."[/color]
 
Soon as the blood donor had finished apologizing, Alice had pulled him into a hug. [Color=red]"You didn't need to. I know how it is to isolate yourself from others, used to try my best not to get so attached to others after all, in fear that one day...I may lose them."[/color]
 
Ice slipped his arms back around the recon, with one hand around her waist and the other on the back of her neck and held her tight, [color=orange]"I can't lose you, dammit! I won't let them take you too, so don't you dare become a martyr like she did..."[/color] Tears slipped from his eyes silently as he hid his face in Alice's hair. [color=orange]"You, Calvin, and Faith... I won't let any of you die, even over my dead body." [/color]
 
[Color=red] "I..."[/color] Alice didn't like seeing her friend in pain. She hugged the blood donor closer and rocked in place. [Color=red]"It's okay, I-I won't leave you..."[/color] The recon told Ice, unaware that she had started crying. [Color=red]"I'll protect you, a-and we'll get out of here together, I promise."[/color]
 
They stayed like that for a long time before Ice gently pulled away and rubbed her hair. [color=orange]"Ya gotta stay alive long enough to see your brother, alright? And I've got a mission outside of here too."[/color] His hand slipped off and he rubbed his eyes sheepishly. [color=orange]"And look um... I know we just got all emotional and all, but um... The reason I pulled away wasn't because of something serious like that it was more of 'cause... well... I'm ahorridly awkward."[/color] He slipped a finger under the Recon's eye to swipe away a tear.
 
Slipping a hand over her mouth to hide the fact that she was blushing, Alice tried to hold back her giggling, and failed.
 
A fake hurt look came over Ice's face before he grinned and lightly flicked her forehead, [color=orange]"That's not very nice."[/color]
 
[Color=red]"Sorry, haha, I can't help it!"[/color] Alice giggled. [Color=red]"And I thought you couldn't be any cuter-"[/color] the recon quickly cover her mouth before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened.

He had been holding back his own laughter when he heard her response and almost choked on air, [color=orange]"You- Wait what?!"[/color] A good amount of his face went red, reaching into his hair to the tips of his ears and he took that chance to look away. [color=orange]"That's lunacy, I-I'm not cute!" [/color]
  
After another moment he blurted, [color=orange]"I'm not about to be the only one embarrassed anyway! Because you see this-"[/color] He pointed to the pool of water from the fountain and then towards Alice's reflection once she looked in, [color=orange]"That's cute too."[/color]
  
Once the recon had realized what the blood donor meant, she lightly punched his arm in a blushing mess. 
  
This time Ice couldn't help but laugh,his stomach almost hurting from how hard he did, having watched her between the moments of confusion and realization. He was still blushing like mad, but at least she had now joined him. He slipped a hand down into the water and watched the ripples, looking mesmerized.

[Color=red]"I'm not cute..."[/color] Alice mumbled under her breath, crossing her arms and looking back down at her reflection, as a small smile creeped onto her face.
 
It was a shame to cut that smile short, but Ice had already made a plan of action and was seeing it through. Once Alice had peered into the water, he flicked his wrist and water sprayed in her direction, mostly getting on her hair.
 
With a shriek, she quickly took a step back from the fountain, raising her one of her arms up to where the water had hit her. [Color=red]"Oh a wise guy, eh?"[/color] She looked over to Ice with a grin, before splashing him back.
 
A chuckle slipped out as he splashed her harder, making full use of his larger arms to make sure she was soaking wet. Sure, it'd be a pain to deal with later, but for right now, Ice was ready to get a little silly, take the edge off.
 
In a fit of laughter, Alice used both her arms to splash the blood donor back. [Color=red]"Is that all you've got? Haha!"[/color]
 
Egged on by her words, Ice wrapped his right arm around her waist before depositing her onto her butt into the fountain, before patting her head, [color=orange]"I win?"[/color]
 
The recon nodded, chuckling before pulling him into the fountain too.
 
After a bit of sputtering, he pushed his bangs to the side and sighed, [color=orange]"You're a poor loser, that you are." [/color]His white shirt grew slightly transparent revealing the chain wrapped around his waist and a large scar right below his heart.
 
Upon seeing the scar, Alice's curiosity was peaked as the recon reached over to touch it.
 
It wasn't round enough to be a bullet wound and seemed more like something made with a knife, but it also didn't look like it went straight in, had a rib gotten in the way? Before Alice could touch it, Ice caught her hand and stared at her, almost confused at what she was looking at before finally it dawned on him, [color=orange]"Bad fight, hurt like a hellion on crack, no biggie."[/color] Ice sombered up right away and pulled Alice out of the water before starting to drain the water out of his shirt. The end of the chain blade clanked against his hip as he did so, looking sharper than before, he must have done some work on it.
 
[Color=red]"Oh."[/color] Alice replied, the blood donor's answer only making her even more curious. Knowing that he wouldn't be comfortable talking about it, she shrugged the feeling off. [Color=red]"So, how'd you get your weapon back?" [/color]
 
[color=orange]"Faith, uh-"[/color] He coughed a little before muttering, [color=orange]"Graciously gave me my chain after I asked."[/color] His face got a little red when he said that, scratching at the back of his neck.
 
[Color=red]"'Graciously' huh?"[/color] The recon crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised.
 
His blush ran deeper as he continued, [color=orange]"...She said something about me being a sub and how my tough guy act was [i]'cute'.[/i]"[/color] He added hand quotations at the last line.
 
[Color=red][i]"Wait what?"[/i][/color] Alice asked, raising her voice a bit. [Color=red]"What gave her an idea like that?"[/color]
 
He let out another exasperated sigh, [color=orange]"Because of the [i]gay[/i] thing. You know, never mind..."[/color] He took a seat back on the side of the fountain, pulling his shirt off his chest to air it out.
 
The recon rolled her eyes from hearing about Faith's speculation again. Trying to find a way to be friends with the matchmaker was a little more difficult than she wanted. Looking back over to Ice, Alice quickly looked away again, blood rushing back to her face as she brought a hand up to her eyes.
  
Ice gave the shirt a look of disdain before looking up at Alice, [color=orange]"Hey, are you ok-"[/color] That's when he heard an anguished male voice yelling from the above. Flinching, Ice hurriedly stood up and grabbed onto Alice's hand. While he didn't exactly want to bring her closer to the danger, he didn't want to leave her unprotected and weaponless either, [color=orange]"Let's go!"[/color]

Once she heard it, the recon quickly looked over to where the scream had come from. Starting to regret not having her sword with her, when Ice had grabbed her hand, Alice nodded in reply and sprinted back to the party.
[hr]
When they both made it back, she could've sworn her heart had stopped at what she saw.

[Color=red]"M-Mercy...?"[/color]

Next to Felix was Mercy's lifeless corpse, lying on the ground.

Alice collapsed onto her knees, her expression frozen in fear as tears freely fell from her eyes.
 
As soon as Ice surveyed the scene, he knew she was already gone, especially with Felix's appearance from trying to resuscitate her. He glanced over at Monokuma with his jaw clenched, his hand moving towards his chain, just itching to attack him. He had been the cause of so many dead and Ice hadn't been able to do anything, again. His glare suddenly shifted when he heard the Alice's small voice. Now wasn't the time to think about himself. He quickly dropped to the ground in front of her and pulled her head to his still damp chest, not wanting her to see anything else. 
 
Not hesitating to wrap her arms around him, she couldn't hold her sorrow back any longer, and started to sob.
 
His grip around her tightened, his left hand aching, but he didn't care. He wanted to say something to reassure her, but there was nothing to say, he wasn't one for nonsense talk either.
 
[Color=red][i]"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."[/i][/color] Alice managed to choke out. [color=red][i]"Don't leave me too...Please..."[/i][/color]
 
Thomas's words barely registered in his head as he tried his best to block out the rest of the world from Alice's view. His head tilted slightly as he heard Faith's unsteady voice and his jaw clenched again. This was supposed to be the safe zone Faith helped create afterall, he vainly hoped this wouldn't mess too much with her psyche. He slid his palm down and flattened Alice's hair before placing his head on top of hers. Even though it looked like Ice was the one comforting the recon, it was working both ways.