Alisette

"Okay. I think that should do it" You say, admiring your handiwork.

"You really gonna glue all those on separately?" Gretchen asks.

"The teeth are gonna fall out. One big piece will just cause problems" You say. "Might take a while to get it all done, but the end result should be worth it"

Gretchen picks up one of the little tooth caps and examines it. "As long as you're sure..." She says. "But doesn't this kid have a huge fear of things involving her mouth?"

"Yep" You reply.

"How you plannin' on dealin' with that?" She asks. "And maybe we should have labelled these..."

"You let me worry about that. I've got her favourite dessert and all sorts of other incentives" You say. "And I can tell the pieces apart fine"

"Alrighty. Need me for anything else?" Gretchen asks.

"Nope. I think that's everything" You say, packing all the little caps into a case along with the glue. "Thanks for coming by to help out. I'd've had a hell of a time separating these without you..."

"No problem man. Just paying you back for the uhh... y'know" She says. "Mind if I hang out here for a while? I wanna get some work done while the apprentice is sleeping"

"Sure thing. Just ask someone if you need me" You say. "I've got a kid to find..."

You leave Gretchen to get working. She's been here more often than not, helping you turn Graumer's old study into a workshop. She mostly makes sure you've got all the tools you might need, so you don't have to stop your work when you don't have something.

There's also a couch for Elphie, who likes to take naps.

Other than them, nobody but Fran really comes in here. And Fran only really visits because this is where you moved all the good books. And also the devils, but they mostly do it to bug you. It's mildly annoying sometimes, but you temper yourself knowing that they only bug you because they love and want to spend time with you.

You ask Coral to point you towards Alisette, even though you know where she'll be. She has language lessons with Alice right now, but it's still better to ask than to assume. The room they do their classes is far enough away from your workshop to mildly inconvenience you if they're not there.

...

You need to get back out on the field. Manor life is starting to soften you, even with all the training you've been doing... or perhaps because of the training, depending on which teacher you're talking about...

Alice and Alisette are indeed where they usually are when you arrive, so you give the door a knock and go in when invited.

"Good evening, sir" Alice says.

"Hello" Alisette says. Her accent is still heavy, but it's nice to see her making an effort.

"Hey guys. I was wondering if you had a moment" You say.

"Sure thing, sir" Alice says.

You take a seat, open up the case, and pull out one of the caps. "So I've finally finished these" You say. "Took a while and I accidentally broke the first set by getting too enthusiastic with the chisel, but these ones are as close to perfect as we'll get"

Alisette giggles as the specifics are translated to her.

Of course it's funny now, but you were INCREDIBLY frustrated when it first happened. You spent a long time putting all this together, and the first thing it does is split right across one of the teeth as soon as you put the chisel to it.

Thankfully Gretchen had a better idea, using a tiny little jeweler's saw to separate them instead of a chisel. Took longer than you hoped, but much less time than having to make a new set every time it didn't split the way you wanted.

"Did you want to put them in now?" Alice asks.

"If that's alright" You say, turning to Alisette. "Is that alright?"

Alisette hugs the stuffed lizard she's been carrying around everywhere and looks apprehensive.

"There's some leftover Brillouche still, for you to test them out on when we're done, and you won't even have to worry about biting your tongue. I made these nice and smooth. Here" You say, handing her one of the caps. "This one's for the top-front-left tooth"

"It's not marked... did you memorize them?" Alice asks.

"Nah. But they all look different" You say, pulling out another one. "Like this one is for the right bottom incisor. You can tell 'cause it's a bit smaller than the top one, and it's shaped kinda... I dunno... leftier..."

...

"That makes more sense in my head, I promise" You say. "So? If you want to do it later, we can"

"No. Now. Is good" Alisette says, before turning to Alice to make sure she just said what she thinks she did.

"Cool" You say.

"Did you want us to take this to the workshop?" Alice asks. "I know this room's not very bright..."

"Nope. Here's fine. Low light's never been a problem for me..."

You get everything set up so you can start working. Alice offer to hold your supplies, while Alisette sits in your lap facing you. She'll tug on your shirt if she needs a break, but until then she's got her lizard, and she's ready to go.

Alisette watches you apply the glue to the first tooth while you explain the process to her. Once you've got the glue on, you get her to open wide so you can put it in place. You hold it there and wipe off any excess, and then...

...

...

This could be a problem. Do you have to hold this for the entire time?

Even if you don't, better to be safe than sorry. You know it dries quickly because you got it on your hands one time. So you decide to make small talk with Alice.

"Language lessons going well?" You ask.

"Very well. She's an attentive, intelligent young lady" Alice says. She then translates all that for Alisette.

"Still no idea where she came from?" You ask.

Alice shakes her head.

"Ah well. That's okay" You say. "I can't even tell me where I came from, so I can't complain when others don't"

Alice laughs and relays that to Alisette, who also laughs despite her focus on staying still. Once the glue is dry you remove your hand and smile.

"There. One down" You say. "How does that feel?"

Alisette feels around the tooth with her tongue.

"Wanna do the rest?" You ask.

She nods.

"Alright. Open up. This'll be over before you know it" You say.

You continue to glue the caps onto Alisette's teeth while chatting with Alice. She seems shocked when you tell her you've no idea how to dance.

"Why, is that something I'll need to know?" You ask.

"Well of course. You're a Prince" Alice says. "I could teach you. I've got formal dance training"

"I guess that would be fine" You say, as you prep the last tooth. "Can you dance, Alisette?"

Alisette looks to Alice for clarification, nodding once she gets it.

"Really? Maybe I'll get you to teach me" You say with a chuckle. "Okay. Last one"

"But you really should know how to dance" Alice says. "Your main duties might be fighting now, but once the war is over certain things will still be expected of you"

"Dancing being one of those things?" You say, putting the final tooth in place and holding it.

"Not always, but we'd be remiss to let you go out there and make a fool of yourself on the dance floor" She says. "The other lords and ladies would be all a-titter, and it'd be our fault for not teaching you"

You snort. "When the war is over and I've won their country back for them, I think any surviving Antolian nobility would keep their laughter to themselves"

"You overestimate them" Alice says. "Let us teach you. It won't take longer than a week"

"Alright. Fine, I guess" You say. "Just let me know when we start and I'll be there"

Alice claps her hands together with a smile. "Excellent. I'll get the girls together to write up a lesson plan" She says.

"Does it have to be a group effort?" You ask.

"Of course! We want to make sure you can knock everybody's socks off" Alice says.

You sigh, wondering if you might have agreed to more than you planned to. "Alright. That should be good" You say, removing your hand from Alisette's mouth. "How's that?"

She feels around with her tongue, and tries to look down as though she could see them.

"Is there a hand mirror or something?" You ask Alice.

"Oh! Yes, of course" Alice says, gliding over to a shelf and grabbing a mirror. She holds it up in front of Alisette, who opens up to look at her teeth. Then she starts smiling, a big wide smile that you've never seen on her before. Mostly because she's always trying to cover her teeth. Then she starts crying.

Alice puts the mirror away, while you hug the child. "I said I'd fix it, didn't I?" You ask.

Alisette nods.

You keep hugging and rubbing her back until she stops crying. "Now, what say we go get you a treat. Huh?" You ask. "No worrying about biting your tongue this time, and we can show everybody that beautiful smile of yours"

Alisette leans back, beaming up at you with a huge smile. "Okay!" She says.