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Dear Wonderland.

[She says it like she's starting a letter. To all of you Wonderland girls and guys! She's obviously in her room, the wall of pasted-on Polaroid photos behind her, with softly lit lanterns hanging across the surface on thin wires. It's late at night- or rather, it's the wee hours of the morning. Max has no idea how much the old midnight gang of insomniacs still prowls around the network. She used to be pretty active at this time- not so much anymore.]

This is gonna sound kinda weird, but I swear I'm not off my rocker. Maybe groggy and craving for food, but not crazy.

[ Come on Max, stop embarrassing yourself on the network!]

I was just thinking that I would've graduated by now, since it's June. I'd probably be scrambling to find some sort of arts college that I can afford or that I can even get into. [Or not. Spending a year traveling and taking photos sounds great, too, but college seems pretty important.] And it sucks that I don't have school here.

But... obviously a lot of things suck about Wonderland. Nutso mirrors, certain newbies showing up, all kinds of scary mystery type stuff, nasty events. I mean, sometimes it's... just shit. [Like the past few days, for a lot of people. The network's been full of downers. Her brow furrows as she looks to the side, and her mouth curves into a slight frown.] And I'm sure some of us are bringing in a ton of messed up baggage from back home, too.

[She holds up a stack of instant photos, maybe seven or eight. She angles the stack sideways, so only the sides can be seen by the camera. The girl's still a little too shy to show the actual images.] But see this? Each one's a photo of a... a friend I've made here. People I could actually hang out with. [She waves the little stack at the screen, preparing herself for this next admission.] That's more friends than I had- have in my school.

So yeah, Wonderland totally bombs sometimes. But there's some pretty good stuff going on, too. And I know this is gonna be really hard right now, but I want to hear it- what's something you're super grateful for? Something you might never have had if you hadn't fallen down the rabbit hole? [She tries to make it sound like it's fun challenge, smiling timidly at the screen.] Cuz I'm sure you could name at least three things.

[[OOC: After the post, she leaves her room to roam around the mansion, phone light in hand. Feel free to bump into her wherever! Also, she'll be replying to all responses, even the ones after sunrise.]]

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[ And he appreciates that she goes along with it, because really, a kid doesn't need to know about the pile of shit that is his life right now. ]

Everyone starts somewhere. Looks like you have a good eye already. How long you been at it?

Basically since I was born. Maybe even earlier. I'm just lucky to have parents that are so supportive about it. Friends too.

[It was hard to leave her Seattle friends behind, pack up, and move to Arcadia Bay for Blackwell Academy's prestigious photography program. But they understood- as did her parents. And it always felt like they wanted her to be happy, more than they wanted her to be in one place.

Her best friend Chloe might have felt differently- but that was earlier, when she wasn't even a teen, and they've made up. Sort of, she thinks.]

Do you have anything like that? Something you do everyday?

[ When it comes to creative talents and pursuing a career that's viewed by some as less "practical," he knows it must mean so much to be supported by her family. That's a good thing, at least. Not everyone gets that, and she's aware of it. ]

My job keeps me busy.

[ His job is what he does everyday and it doesn't leave much room for any other pursuits or passions, but he wouldn't have it any other way. ] I work with the FBI.

[That takes her by surprise. It probably shouldn't, but wow, an actual FBI guy. She wants to jokingly ask him if he means "female body inspector" (that's Chloe rubbing off on her) but he seems pretty serious so... nah.]

Cool! Do you mean, uhh, like field work? Not just at the... [whatever it's called] FBI building?

[ He's definitely the type to just stare at her silently for a joke like that, but he doesn't mind talking a little about his work. ]

Mostly field work. There's the boring paperwork that has to be done when we close a case, but my team stays active. We're out in the field a lot. [ He's with the Critical Response Group, so he's usually handling terrorists, suspected terrorist, kidnappers, assassins - the worst of the worst. ]

That's awesome. You must be literally saving lives. [And obviously, that's automatically awesome.] And you like it, right? If there's ever anything going on here, you wouldn't mind helping...?

[ Oh, Max, you sweet kid. Just a few days before he arrived here, Kurt was feeling just as good about the job he was doing, "saving the world" (as Jane put it). He knows he and his team saved a lot of lives, even more lives when Jane showed up. They were doing good. He was doing good.

Then everything went to hell in less than twenty-four hours.

He's gained some perspective since arriving here, he knows he's still capable of all that, but the knowledge that his own father killed his childhood best friend threw his whole world off its axis for a little while. He promised to always protect her and he failed her. How many more people will he fail now, when he doesn't know if he can even trust his own instincts? It's something he's still grappling with.

He'll say none of this to her, though, of course. ]

I wouldn't wanna do anything else. [ That's very, very true. He wouldn't know what else to do with his life. ] I want to help here. Much as I can. I know there's a lot to worry about, with events and stuff. If you ever feel unsafe, you can come to me. If you see or hear anything suspicious, you tell me.

[At the very least Max can relate to failure. She doesn't know this person's whole story, doesn't even know part of it, but if she did, then... she'd try to help. Somehow. She doesn't even know how, anymore, cheesy videos aside.]

Aces, that's really great of you! [She smiles at the screen.] I've been trying to do everything to keep my best friend Chloe safe... just keeping her out of trouble. [Speaking of which...] If you happen to see her getting into anything, uhh, do you mind just making sure she's okay? You can't miss her- she has blue hair.

[Every little bit helps, and honestly she's desperate enough to ask authority figures to look out for her rebel friend.]

[ She may, in time, get snippets out of him. Little hints here and there. For now, though, he tends to keep everything locked down tight. Her energy, once again, tugs the slightest hint of a smile out of him. She's thinking about her best friend, too, and that says a lot about who she is. Her heart. What she's made of. He can relate to that, to wanting to make sure your friends are safe. ]

Chloe with the blue hair. Got it. I'll keep an eye out. Has she gotten into anything here before?

Here? Not really. But back home? [She shows a cheeky grin.] Tons.

[Which is not necessarily something she should be happy about, or tell an FBI agent about for that matter.] Uhh, she'll probably be better about it here... but still.

[ It's in his nature to question and probe, especially when there are kids roaming around Wonderland unsupervised. For the most part. If it weren't for the fact that there are very real dangers here, he would perhaps let up a little. Maybe. ]

What kind of stuff did she get into?

[Oh god. Not gonna mention the drugs, nope. It wasn't anything hardcore anyway... right?]

She's kind of the cover girl for teen rebellion. Crazy hair, wicked tattoo, uhhh...

[She probably shouldn't mention the gun either.]

Kind of the wrong crowd, problems with authority... She got expelled from my school.

[Man, that all makes her sound really bad.]

Hey, but she's great. Best friend I've ever had.

[ It's definitely a good choice on her part not to mention the drugs or the gun. ]

You don't seem the type. Like her. Complete opposites, then?

Oh, trust me, I'm a crazy wild girl.

[Pfft, no. The humor is obvious in her expression and tone.]

But you'd be surprised. We get along really well. Deep down she's all mush.

[Really incredibly deep down.

It's probably the mush that makes her so rebellious. Mush does that to people, sometimes...]

[ That does make him smirk a little. ]

All mush? I've known people like that. Stick around for a while, you see another side of them.

[ He's a little bit like that himself, though he's not even fully aware of it. He does know he can come across as pretty damn gruff sometimes, but he does care about people. ]

Yeah. Exactly. People don't give her enough of a chance... I mean, even on the surface she's awesome, but if you really get to know her... well, there's a lot more to her.

[She shrugs. It's true.]

So anyway, if you meet her, just... uhh, keep that in mind.

I'll keep that in mind, I promise.

[ He's pretty sure they would get each other on some level. ]

You stay safe, okay? Reach out to me anytime.

[Which is good, because Chloe needs as many friends as she can get.]

I will. Thanks, Kurt.

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