WHO: Alice Cullen, Jareth; later, Jasper Hale WHERE: a park WHEN: Monday, July 17; sunset WHAT: Alice had a vision, but Jareth's people skills leave something to be desired. RATING: TBD STATUS: part-log because IJ is a jerk, part-thread; in-progress
Though it hadn't yet been sunset when Alice ventured out, she had gone just the same to make certain she was there in time for the vision she had seen that would come to pass soon, she was certain, from the vividness of it. Leaving a note, as was always her habit when exiting the apartment without either Jasper or Edward – not because they needed to keep tabs on her, but because she felt better leaving them with a reassurance that she had purposefully left, not vanished – she left the apartment wearing a lightweight hooded jacket and gloves in addition to pants. The weather didn't bother her, and the cover was helpful to keep from drawing attention.
As the sun set, she had shrugged off the extra layers, leaning back against the park bench to wait, her attention mostly on a large tree within several feet of her. When the snowy white owl alighted on the branch not but ten minutes later, she smiled, clearly pleased, and rose from the bench. Just a second later she was in the tree, perched with flawless balance next to the owl.
"Hello," she greeted the bird, reaching out a hand to stroke its head. "I've been waiting for you to arrive." She laughed then, the sound as melodic as always. "But not very long. You're very punctual."
Had anyone else stroked him as though he were a common household pet, Jareth would have nipped at them. Had anyone else started talking to an unfamiliar bird, he would have thought them mad. However, there was something about this woman, perhaps her melodic voice, perhaps the way that she spoke to him, perhaps even her touch, that made him pause. He didn't flee, he didn't nip, instead he sat there, listening to her with eyes more searching than any animal's looking over her to try to decipher what manner of creature she was.
Even had he tried to nip her, Alice wouldn't have minded. She would have worried more for his beak than anything else, as nipping her was a recipe for disaster where fragile beings were concerned, and as an owl, she was certain he was fragile. She certainly hadn't missed his intense gaze and that only made her smile more. She hadn't imagined he'd know what to do with her greeting anymore than another, but she did know he was still guessing as to what she was. She had, after all, seen his persistence to know.
"I know you won't stay a bird all evening," she said, fingers dancing over his feathers. "Sadly, I can't read minds, so if you want to talk to me, you will have to transform. I'll wait down there." With a last pat to the owl's head, she dropped straight from the branch to the ground, a good fifteen foot drop leaving her looking as though she had simply slid off a chair or stepped off a step.
Jareth considered for a moment what the best thing to do in such a situation would be. He had come here with the hopes of finding some bratling child to snatch and make into one of his goblin minions. It would be somehow fitting that Peter, a human, deprived him of the one person most precious to him and he, a Goblin King, stole the most valuable asset from another human family in the form of their child. However, the idea of finding out what manner of witch this woman was, that she somehow knew who he was without ever meeting him before, somehow took priority. He would release his anger later, for now he was going to find out what the good witch with the musical voice and the light touch meant. Swooping down behind the tree, he transformed back into his 'human' form.
"Who are you?" he asked directly, hoping beyond hope that this woman was a logical one and not one who hid behind her name or lack thereof. "And how do you know me?
"Alice," she said, the name offered up without a trace of hesitation as she bounced on her toes, rather enjoying the game that had only just begun, "and I know you because you are the Goblin King." There was no need to tell him how she knew all those facts, not when his interest in her would keep him from stealing the children she'd seen him try to kidnap.
She looked him over then, circling him entirely with light steps before coming back to face him again. What a curious individual he was, just on appearance alone. Humans were always of interest to her, but he clearly wasn't human, just humanoid. However, that didn't stop him from being interesting just the same.
It was odd, how relieving it was to hear her name come out so easily, and to see interest in her face as she noted that he was the Goblin King. Finally, someone here who was capable of sense. Finally, someone who he could converse with. "Pleased to meet you, Alice..."
He paused, knowing that he should be more concerned with how she knew so much about him. She might be a spy from THE WITCH, out after some information, she might be a ticking time bomb from Sarah's scarred lover, but somehow she put him at ease, and he didn't worry as she circled him as one should worry. She was very pretty, if you fancied humans, he thought, and she was quite small, it was hard to be intimidated by one so small as she was.
"You said I was punctual." He remembered. "That you were waiting on me. How did you know I would be here?"
Alice danced around him again, this time much closer, taking the time to catch his scent more throughly before. Interesting. No wariness from him at all and that same odd smell – nothing offensive, but sharp with a lingering feel to it like incense. Definitely not human or even as humanoid as she would have theorized, and being near him inspired no desire to feed at all. If anything, her presence seemed to be putting him completely at ease. It was the complete counter to any human reaction, a complete unknown. She was intrigued.
She laughed, moving over to the bench. "Because I did," she told him then seated herself, curling one leg beneath her, drawing the other one up beside her. Perched so on the bench, she looked even smaller, absolutely no indication of the gifts and abilities she possessed.
"Please sit?" she asked, patting the bench beside her, giving him a winning smile as she did, curious as to how he would respond to it if he had no built-in instinct to avoid her.
Though he knew he should explore the hows and why's of her odd appearance here, he obediently sat down at her request. There was something in her odd golden eyes that made him trust her. He'd never seen another human with eyes like hers...then again, humans generally all looked the same to him, aside from Sarah...
A wave of rage overtaking him again, he got quickly to his feet. Just thinking about how he had left her still made his temper flare. Jareth could still see her in Peter's arms, clinging to him, kissing him and crying in relief that he had lived. Peter had tried to aim that bolt at HIM and she had not batted an eyelash, but when the wrath came back to hit her lover, she was full of tears. "Excuse me," he muttered, his original plan of kidnapping a human child fresh in his mind again, "but I must go."
Despite the fact Jareth abruptly rose, Alice continued to appear entirely unruffled. Such was the blessing of knowing how something would go, as it kept one from worrying needlessly. She did like visions like that, ones that followed their course to the end, as it made things much easier. Not that she was above deviation to said course, not that deviations did not occur because of others, but generally, knowing was easier.
"No, you are meant to stay," she said, reaching out to catch his hand, carefully keeping her grip light and her tug as gentle as she could manage to avoid possibly breaking him. Possibly, as she wasn't entirely certain now if he was as fragile as a human would be, if other things about him were distinctly not human.
Jareth was somewhat surprised at the strength of her grip, the way her hand, while gentle, was firm, solid, even a bit imposing. That alone was enough to give him pause, but combined with her words, it stopped him, at least for the moment. "Meant?" He questioned, wondering if this was another sort of witch, perhaps one who dealt in prophecy and the future more than the noxious concoctions that the other had made. His eyes narrowed. "What manner of creature are you?"
And there it was again. Alice tugged on his hand, leaning to pat the bench once more. "Some might not consider that a polite question to ask of someone they just met," she said, beaming up at him, waiting for him to sit down again. She didn't have an exact time of arrival of the children, who should never have been out after dark anyhow, but she knew she would know they were soon to arrive before he saw them. She simply had to keep him occupied in the mean time.
"What would your response be if I asked you what manner of creature you are?" she questioned, swaying slightly as if moving to music only she could hear. "Would you find that presumptuous?"